Cambridge Grammar of English Hardback with cd-rom a comprehensive Guide

Other ways of reporting

In direct speech, the report represents or attempts to recreate or give the illusion

of the original speaker’s exact words. In indirect speech reports, the report is not

necessarily meant to be a recreation of someone’s exact words; it may function

just to report the content of what they said. 

Speech reports, both direct and indirect, are most commonly made with

reporting clauses containing verbs such as ask, say and tell with a reported clause.

There are also other, more indirect ways in which people’s speech can be

reported, by using nouns such as argument, comment, complaint, observation,

remark

to refer to someone’s words, or by quoting them, especially the words of

famous people:

I didn’t like his 

comment

that we were spending too much money

.

Well their biggest 

complaint was 

that the room was too small

.

To quote Shakespeare: “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women

merely players.”