9.(ii) Report the conversation given below by filling in the blanks to complete the following paragraph : Teacher : Why didn't you submit your homework yesterday ? Student : I am sorry ma'am. I wasn't feeling well. The student replied that he was _.
9.(ii) Report the conversation given below by filling in the blanks to complete the following paragraph : Teacher : Why didn't you submit your homework yesterday ? Student : I am sorry ma'am. I wasn't feeling well. The student replied that he was _.
Official answer
sorry and (that) he had not been feeling well - correct because 'was' completes with 'sorry' (from 'I am sorry'), and the reason clause takes pronoun change (I->he) with back-shifted tense (wasn't feeling -> had not been feeling).
Marking scheme
- 1.1 mark: 'sorry' + correctly reported reason with pronoun change and tense back-shift ('had not been feeling well').
- 2.Accept 'sorry as he had not been feeling well' or 'sorry and that he was not feeling well' (un-shifted continuous is commonly accepted).
- 3.Accept 'sorry and (that) he had not been well'.
- 4.No mark if the clause is left as a question, if 'I' is retained, or if it does not connect sensibly to 'The student replied that he was...'.
Hint
Complete 'he was' with 'sorry', then add the reason: 'and (that) he had not been feeling well.'
Quick oral answer
The student replied that he was sorry and that he had not been feeling well.
Common mistakes
- 1.Retaining the first-person pronoun 'I' instead of changing it to 'he'.
- 2.Ignoring the tense back-shift and writing 'he was not feeling good' with no shift, when 'had not been feeling well' is the fully correct form.
- 3.Turning the reply into a fresh direct quote ('I am sorry') instead of blending it into the reported frame 'The student replied that he was...'.
Analysis and explanation
The second blank reports the student's apology and reason, so it is handled as a reported statement, not a question.
Concept
- The given frame 'The student replied that he was _' already supplies 'was', completed naturally by the adjective 'sorry'.
- The reason clause is joined with 'and (that)', with pronoun change 'I' -> 'he' and tense back-shift 'wasn't feeling' -> 'had not been feeling' (past perfect continuous), since the reporting verb 'replied' is in the past.
Common mistakes
- Leaving the tense un-shifted ('was not feeling well') - commonly accepted but not the fully correct back-shifted form.
- Forgetting the pronoun change from 'I' to 'he'.
Real-world use
- Correctly reporting an excuse or apology is exactly what is needed when relaying messages, writing minutes of a meeting, or summarising a conversation in an email.
Previously asked
Report: The King: How will the new policy benefit college students? Minister 2: The policy will provide for an interdisciplinary education that has flexible study plans.
Interesting facts
When the reporting verb is in the past, present forms shift back one step: 'am' → 'was', and past continuous 'was feeling' → past perfect continuous 'had been feeling'.
CBSE reported-speech items usually pair a question with a reply so that students demonstrate both interrogative and assertive transformations in a single 2-mark task.
Question details
Q33 of 53 questions
- Board
- CBSE
- Class
- Class 10
- Subject
- English (Communicative)
- Year
- 2026
- Section
- Section C
- Marks
- 1
- Type
- Short Answer
- Chapter
- Grammar
- Topic
- Reported speech - blank 2 (reply)
- Bloom's level
- apply
- Syllabus topic
- Section C: Grammar — Reported Speech: converting a statement/apology into indirect speech
- Author
- CBSE
- Reviewed by
- Padhantu Academic Team
Spotted a mistake or something unclear?
Tell us and we will fix it.
Frequently asked questions
Should I write 'was not feeling' or 'had not been feeling'?
The fully correct back-shifted form is 'had not been feeling well', because the reporting verb 'replied' is in the past. Many examiners also accept the un-shifted 'was not feeling well', but the past-perfect-continuous form is the safest for full marks.
How do I connect the apology and the reason in one blank?
Use 'and' (optionally repeating 'that'): 'he was sorry and (that) he had not been feeling well.' The link keeps the two reported ideas in a single grammatical sentence that flows from 'The student replied that he was...'.