The steps of changing direct statements to indirect:
1- Say to changes to tell and says to changes to tells.Said to changes to told and said don't change.
2-We ommit the inverted commas.
3-putting that is optional.
4-The pronouns change according to the speakers out of the inverted commas.He/she/it/they don't change.only I/we/you change.I and we refer to the subject but you refers to the object.
5-The tenses changes from the present to the past if the speech happened in the past.But no backshift if it happened now.It also doesn't change if the speech expresses a fact or happens a short time ago.
*The present simple changes into past simple.
*the present continuous changes into past continuous.
*the past simple or the present perfect changes into past perfect.
*the past continuous doesn't change .
*the past perfect and the past perfect continuous don't change.
*the present perfect continuous changes into past perfect continuous.
6-Place and time expressions change as follows:
*today ---------------------that day
*now -----------------------then
*yesterday------------------the day before
*ago------------------------before
*last-------------------------the previous
*next------------------------the following
*tomorrow------------------the following day or the next day
*here------------------------there
*this ---------------------- --that
*these ----------------------those
7-The modal verbs cahnge as follows:
*will---------------------would
*shall--------------------would(future)
*shall--------------------should(request , suggestion or offers)
*can---------------------could
*may--------------------might
*must -------------------must
*mustn't-----------------mustn't
*have to -----------------had to
EX:She said to me ,"I played football yesterday."(direct)
She told me (that) she had played football the day before.
EX:She said just now,"He is raeding for his exams."(direct)
She said just now (that) he is reading for his exams.(indirect)
EX:The teacher said,"The sun rises in the east."(direct)
The teacher said the sun rises in the east.(indirect)
EX:He says to me ,"I visited the pyramids in Egypt."(direct)
He tells me he visited the pyramids in Egypt.(indirect)
EX:She said ,"I will make you a cup of tea now."(direct)
She said she would make me a cup of tea then,(indirect)
*There are a lot of examples but you should memorize the steps well so that you can report easily.