Choose the most appropriate reported construction of the following se…

The correct answer is Option (2) → Mrs Bhalla told her son not to scroll reels while he ate his dinner.

Changing a negative order into indirect speech:

Change	Direct	Indirect	Why
Reporting verb	said to her son	told her son	Mrs Bhalla gives an order. So “said to” becomes “told” + person.
Not to + verb	Don’t scroll	not to scroll	“Don’t” is dropped. A negative order is reported with “not to” + verb.
Pronoun change	you, your	he, his	The son is spoken to, so “you” becomes “he” and “your” becomes “his”.
Tense change	eat	ate	“Eat” is in the simple present. The simple present is formed with the base form (V1), or V1 + s / es with he, she, it. After the past “said” it becomes the simple past “ate”. The simple past is formed with the past form of the verb (V2).
Full sentence	Mrs Bhalla said to her son, “Don’t scroll reels while you eat your dinner.”	Mrs Bhalla told her son not to scroll reels while he ate his dinner.

“Forbade” can also report a “Don’t” order, but it takes “to” + verb without “not”. Example: The guard said to us, “Don’t park here.” → The guard forbade us to park there.

Why the Other Options are Incorrect?

Option 1: Mrs Bhalla told her son don’t scroll reels while he ate his dinner. — Incorrect. “Don’t scroll” keeps the spoken form. In the report it must be “not to scroll”.

Option 3: Mrs Bhalla told her son not to scroll reels while you ate your dinner. — Incorrect. “You” and “your” are left unchanged. The son is spoken to, so they must become “he” and “his”.

Option 4: Mrs Bhalla said her son not to scroll reels while he ate his dinner. — Incorrect. “Said” cannot take the person straight after it. With “not to” + verb it must be “told her son”.