Reported Speech (Statements) In Direct Speech , we give the exact words that someone said. The words of the speaker are put in quotation marks. Thomas said, ‘Bob is on the phone.’ In Reported Speech , we give the meaning of what someone said, but with some changes and without quotation marks. We use a reporting verb, usually say or tell, followed by that (which can be omitted) and the reported statement. Thomas said that Bob was on the phone. Note: • We use say when there is no indirect object. ‘I can’t fix the car,’ he said. He said that he couldn’t fix the car. • We use tell when there is an indirect object. ‘I’ll be late, Tom,’ he said. He told Tom he would be late. • When we change a sentence from Direct to Reported Speech, pronouns and possessive adjectives change according to the meaning of the sentence. ‘I like your new bike,’ said Ian. Ian said that he liked my new bike. • When a sentence changes from Direct to Reported Speech, tenses, modals and time ex...