Question

John was very much in love with Mary, so John told Mary, “Will you marry me?”
Convert direct speech into indirect speech.
A) John asked Mary if she would marry him.
B) John told Mary that she would marry him.
C) John asked Mary if you would marry me.
D) John asked Mary that you would marry me.

Answer 1

Hint: Indirect speech is also known as reported speech and when we use these speeches the form changes. Indirect speech is usually introduced by the verb ‘said’. For example: He said, Will said, or they said.

Complete answer:
1) direct and 2) indirect (reported) are the two ways of relating what a person has said.
In the direct speech, the exact words of the original speaker are repeated and they are pout in the inverted commas.
In indirect speech (reported speech), the exact meaning of what the speaker told is expressed but not necessarily in the speaker’s exact words and they are not enclosed in inverted commas.

Let us look into the given options:
A) John asked Mary if she would marry him – is the correct answer because appropriate introductory verb 'asked' and is correct as the appropriate introductory verb 'asked' is used, appropriate conjunction 'if/whether' is used and the given direct speech is in the future tense so the reported sentence uses the conditional 'would' and 'you' and 'me' becomes 'she' and 'him' respectively. Therefore, this the correct answer.
B) John told Mary that she would marry him – is an incorrect answer because ‘told’ used in this option is wrongly used. The sentence is about seeking permission or asking about something, so, converting it into indirect speech we will not be using told. Therefore, this is an incorrect answer.
C) John asked Mary if you would marry me – is an incorrect answer because ‘me’ cannot be used directly while converting it into indirect speech and ‘you’ is not transformed respectively. Therefore, this option is an incorrect answer.
D) John asked Mary that you would marry me - is an incorrect answer because ‘me’ cannot be used directly while converting it into indirect speech and ‘you’ is not transformed respectively (as explained in option C). Therefore, this option is an incorrect answer.

Direct speech: John was very much in love with Mary, so John told Mary, “Will you marry me?”
Indirect speech: John asked Mary if she would marry him. (Option A)

Thus the correct answer is option ‘A’.

Note: The main rule of converting direct speech into indirect speech is ‘simple past tense changes into past perfect tense. For example:
Direct speech: He said, “I started a painting”.
Indirect speech: He said that he had started a painting.