There are two different ways to say what someone else said. These are: direct speech and reported speech. In direct speech, you quote the exact words that were spoken. You put quotation marks around what was said, and add a speech tag such as he said or she asked either before or after the quote.

Read the examples from the drama The World is an Apple.

Gloria said, “I’m glad you’re home early.”

Mario answered, “How is Tita?”

You can also use direct speech to say what someone is saying right now, as in:

He says, “Hurry.”

Reported speech is another way of saying what someone said, but without quotation marks. Reported speech does not repeat the words exactly as they were spoken. Remember these rules:

1. You have to write reported speech in the past tense.
2. The word that is important.

Examples

"I have an apple for you!" commented Mario.

Mario said that he had an apple for me.

The following are some other examples of direct speech and their corresponding reported speech.

Direct Speech	Reported Speech
He said, “I live in Tondo.”	He said that he lived in Tondo.
Gloria said, “I am cooking dinner.”	Gloria said that she was cooking dinner.
He said, “I have visited Mario twice.”	He said that he had visited Mario twice.
He said, “I went to Manila last week.”	He said that he had gone to Manila last week.
He said, “I have already eaten.”	He said that he had already eaten.
He said, “I am going to find a new job.”	He said that he was going to find a new job.
He said, “I will give Pablo a call.”	He said that he would give Pablo a call.
He said, “I have been working in that job for over two weeks.”	He said that he had been working in that job for over two weeks.