Direct and reported speech

1. Dr Richards claimed to have described that phenomenon before his university colleagues.

2. The police officer ordered me to drop the gun and put my hands on my head.

3. Kenneth admitted to being scared of mice and rats.

4. Billy confessed to putting a tack on Anita’s chair.

5. “Let’s go for a swim”, said Judie.

6. Carla denied having an affair with her supervisor.

7. My sister asked me: “Should I get my eyebrows tinted?”

8. “The nurses aren’t going to call off the strike”, said Barry.

9. Dr McBride asked the audience whether they could see and hear her.

10. Miranda said to me: “Please send this letter right away”.

11. My wife said to me: “Don’t forget to set the alarm for 6 a.m.”

12. “If only I hadn’t dropped out of college!” said Cecily.

13. Cyril promised Jessica that he’d call her back in an hour.

Direct speech shows a person’s exact words. Quotation marks ("....") are a sign that the words are the exact words that a person used.

Reported speech puts the speaker’s words or ideas into a sentence without quotation marks. Noun clauses are usually used. In reported speech, the reader does not assume that the words are the speaker’s exact words; often, they are a paraphrase of the speaker’s words.

When you report what someone said in the past, you usually shift back a verb tense from the tense the speaker used.

Source: https://stlcc.edu/student-support/academic-success-and-tutoring/writing-center/writing-resources/reported-speech-and-direct-speech.aspx