This article is additional to the main page dedicated to Reported Speech.
When we need to transform an order into Indirect Speech we use this rule:
someone told someone to do something
For example👇
Helen: "Come to me now!" — Direct Speech
Helen told me to come to her.
This is construction is almost the same with the construction that we use to make up reported requests. The main difference is the verb that we use.
The verb 'tell' has a stronger emotional context than the verb 'ask'. That means, when we want to be polite we use 'ask' and when we want to me more strict and direct we use 'tell'.
Compare👇
Helen: "Come and take a sit, please."
Helen asked me to come and to take a sit.
Helen: "Sit down!"
Helen told me to sit down.