You have already learnt that when you change direct speech to indirect or reported speech, you change the tense, the punctuation and pronouns; and you usually add “that”, “if” or “whether”. Here are some more changes to make:

1. Change adverbs of time and place:

this → that
these → those
here →there
now → then
today → that day
yesterday → the previous day
tomorrow → following day or next day
tonight → that night

2. Commands: change the verb to the infinitive.

“Get out the classroom!” the teacher ordered Thomas. → The teacher ordered Thomas to get out the classroom.

3. Exclamatory words, such as “ouch”, “good grief”: leave out the exclamatory words and provide a description instead.

“Yay! Fantastic! I passed my exams!” shouted Lindiwe. → Lindiwe shouted with joy that she had passed her exams.

4. Greetings: leave out the greeting words and provide a description instead.

“Good morning, Mr Mpofu,” Lydia said politely. → Lydia politely greeted Mr Mpofu.

5. Words such as “please” and “thank you”: leave out these words and provide a description instead.

“Please help me to carry my suitcase,” my grandmother asked me. → My grandmother asked me to help her to carry her suitcase.