In this reported speech question, you must convert the teacher's direct question "The teacher said to the student, \"Why were you absent yesterday?\"" into the correct indirect form and choose it from the options given.

Introduction / Context:
This question deals with converting a direct wh question into indirect speech. The teacher asks the student about his absence: "Why were you absent yesterday?" You must select the indirect version that correctly follows the rules of word order, tense change, and shifting of time expressions in reported speech.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• Direct sentence: The teacher said to the student, "Why were you absent yesterday?"
• Reporting verb: "said to", which becomes "asked" in indirect speech for questions.
• Wh word: "Why", which introduces the reason for the absence.
• Time expression: "yesterday", which must change in indirect narration.

Concept / Approach:
When converting direct questions into indirect speech, we normally change "said to" into "asked" or "enquired of", keep the wh word at the beginning of the reported clause, and use statement word order subject plus verb rather than question word order. The past simple "were you" changes to past perfect "he had been", because the reporting verb "said" is in the past and the action is one step earlier. The time word "yesterday" becomes "the previous day" or "the day before".

Step-by-Step Solution:
Change "said to the student" to "asked the student".Keep the wh word "why" at the beginning of the reported clause.Change the person: "you" becomes "he" to refer to the student.Backshift the tense: "were absent" changes to "had been absent".Modify the time expression: "yesterday" becomes "the previous day".Use statement word order: "why he had been absent the previous day".

Verification / Alternative check:
The final sentence becomes "The teacher asked the student why he had been absent the previous day." This sentence is grammatically correct, maintains the meaning of the original question, and follows all the standard rules of reported wh questions in English grammar.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Option A and Option B wrongly keep question order inside the reported clause ("why had been he" or "why had he been"), which is not correct for indirect statements. Option C changes "asked" to "informed" and also misuses "why" in a that clause, as well as changing "yesterday" to "the next day", which reverses the time reference. Only Option D uses proper statement order and the correct time phrase "the previous day".

Common Pitfalls:
Many learners simply copy the word order of the direct question into the indirect clause, forgetting that in indirect speech the clause is treated like a normal statement. It is also easy to confuse "the previous day" with "the next day", which changes the meaning of the time reference. Always remember that "yesterday" usually becomes "the previous day" or "the day before" in indirect narration.

Final Answer:
The correct indirect version is The teacher asked the student why he had been absent the previous day.