Select the option that expresses the given sentence in direct speech.
Mrs Kapoor requested her neighbour to keep his dog off her flower bed.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → Mrs Kapoor said to her neighbour, “Please keep your dog off my flower bed.”
Changing a request from indirect back into direct speech:
| Change | Indirect | Direct | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reporting verb | requested her neighbour | said to her neighbour, “Please ...” | “Requested” goes back to “said to”. The polite request it showed is now shown by “Please”. |
| To + verb | to keep | keep | “To” is dropped. A spoken request starts with the plain verb “keep”. |
| Pronoun change | his, her | your, my | Mrs Kapoor speaks to her neighbour. So “his dog” becomes “your dog”, and “her flower bed” becomes “my flower bed”. |
| Full sentence | Mrs Kapoor requested her neighbour to keep his dog off her flower bed. | Mrs Kapoor said to her neighbour, “Please keep your dog off my flower bed.” |
“Requested ... not to” goes back to “Please do not”. Example: Anil requested me not to call after ten. → “Please do not call after ten,” Anil said to me.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 2: Mrs Kapoor said to her neighbour, “Please keep his dog off her flower bed.” — Incorrect. “His” and “her” are not changed. In her own words Mrs Kapoor says “your dog” and “my flower bed”.
Option 3: Mrs Kapoor said to her neighbour, “Please to keep your dog off my flower bed.” — Incorrect. “To” is kept after “Please”. A spoken request takes the plain verb: “Please keep”.
Option 4: Mrs Kapoor said to her neighbour that, “Please keep your dog off my flower bed.” — Incorrect. “That” is kept before the quotation marks. In direct speech no joining word comes before the spoken words.