ABSTRACT
An important feature of speech is reporting to others what someone has said to us. There are two ways of doing this:
direct speech, i.e. to repeat what the person said:
'I will not stand for re-election,' he said.
reported speech (or 'indirect speech):
He said that he will not stand for re-election.
Both involve a reporting clause (functioning as the main clause – introduced by he said above), plus a reported clause in the case of reported speech (that he . . .), or a quote in direct speech (‘I will . . .’); both the reported clause and the quote function as the object of the reporting verb (said). However, the reported clause is integrated more closely into clause structure; above it is a subordinate clause, but non-finite clauses are also possible (He said to come .)