Direct speech is what a tape recorder would have recorded:
“It was a perfect phone call,” the president insisted.
Indirect speech is how you report it without directly quoting:
The president insisted that his phone call was perfect.
Indirect speech does not use quotation marks. Pronouns are changed. Verb tenses are changed. But the nouns and the verb itself usually remain the same. And the meaning is not changed.
“I’ll pick you up at the airport tomorrow,” he promised.
He promised that he would pick me up at the airport the next day.
Answers & Comments
Answer:
Direct speech is what a tape recorder would have recorded:
“It was a perfect phone call,” the president insisted.
Indirect speech is how you report it without directly quoting:
The president insisted that his phone call was perfect.
Indirect speech does not use quotation marks. Pronouns are changed. Verb tenses are changed. But the nouns and the verb itself usually remain the same. And the meaning is not changed.
“I’ll pick you up at the airport tomorrow,” he promised.
He promised that he would pick me up at the airport the next day.
Explanation: