Direct & Indirect Speech
How to report what someone said in your own words.
Direct speech repeats the exact words someone said, placed inside inverted commas. Indirect speech (also called reported speech) tells us what someone said without using their exact words. When we change direct speech to indirect speech, we usually change the tense, pronouns, and time/place words.
Direct speech uses the speaker's exact words inside inverted commas. Indirect speech reports what was said without inverted commas, usually with the word "that".
Direct: She said, "I am tired."
Indirect: She said that she was tired.
Direct: He said, "I like this book."
Indirect: He said that he liked that book.
The word "that" is optional in indirect speech. Both "She said she was tired." and "She said that she was tired." are correct.