Reported Speech: Useful Tips

This is a very useful hand-out for Ss who are learning what and how to change from direct speech into indirect one - sometimes also called 'reported speech'.
When reporting speech, a few changes occur:
First....
Choose an appropriate reporting (= introductory) verb - depending on the type of discourse
N.B.: The verb is usually conjugated in the simple past

Then

Change the tenses to their past form, unless what is said is still true

Don't forget to
Change personal pronouns, possessive adjectives or pronouns - depending on the speaker(s)

and to
Change time and place adverbs.

Remember to
Change the punctuation - depending on the type of discourse