QUOTED AND REPORTED SPEECH

Quoted and Reported Speech / Direct and Indirect Speech

Quoted speech is related to quote a speaker’s exact words,
mainly in writing such as academic papers. We use quotations marks.

Safia: the desert is clean. (speaker’s exact words)
Safia said, “ The desert is clean.” (Quoted speech) or
“ The desert is clean,” said Safia.

Other common verbs that introduce quotations:
Say  - admit  - announce  - answer  - ask  - complain  - explain  -
inquire  - report  - reply  - shout  - state  - write.

Quoted speech (direct) and reported (indirect) speech:

Safia said, “The desert is empty.”
Safia said that the desert was empty.

The reported speech reproduces an idea. We don’t use all of the exact
words: You may change verb forms and pronouns: and we don’t use
the quotation marks.

Verb form in reported speech:
Rule:

-  The main verb of the sentence is in the present:  No
change is made in the verb tense or modal in the noun-clause.

- The main verb of the sentence is in the past:  The verb in the
noun-clause change into the past form, as follow:

Quoted speech Reported speech
He said, “I study.” He said (that) he studied.
He said, “I am studying.” He said (that) he was studying.
He said, “I studied.” He said (that) he had studied.
He said, “I have studied.” He said (that) he had learned.
He said, “I am going to study.” He said (that) he was going to study.
He said, “I will study. He said (that) he would study.
He said, “I can study.” He said (that) he could study.
He said, “I may study.” He said (that) he might study.
He said, “I have to study.” He said (that) he had to study.
He said, “I must study.” He said (that) he had to study.
He said, “I should study.” He said (that) he should study.
He said, “I ought to study.” He said (that) he ought to study.


But, in an immediate reporting, or soon after it was said,
especially in speaking, the verb is not changed in the noun clause:

What did he just say? I didn’t hear him?
He said (that) he is in the good mood.

Reported Questions
Reported questions are one form of reported speech.

direct question reported question
She said: "Are you cold?" She asked me if I was cold.
He said: "Where's my pen?" He asked where his pen was.
We usually introduce reported questions with the verb "ask":

He asked (me) if/whether... (YES/NO questions)
He asked (me) why/when/where/what/how... (question-word questions)
As with reported statements, we may need to change pronouns and tense (backshift) as well as time and place in reported questions.

But we also need to change the word order. After we report a question, it is no longer a question (and in writing there is no question mark). The word order is like that of a normal statement (subject-verb-object).

Reported YES/NO questions
We introduce reported YES/NO questions with ask + if:

direct question She said, "Do you like coffee?"
reported question She asked if I liked coffee.
Note that in the above example the reported question has no auxiliary "do". But there is pronoun change and backshift.

Note that we sometimes use "whether" instead of "if". The meaning is the same. "Whether" is a little more formal and more usual in writing:

They asked us if we wanted lunch.
They asked us whether we wanted lunch.
Reported question-word questions
We introduce reported question-word questions with ask + question word:

direct question He said, "Where do you live?"
reported question He asked me where I lived.
Note that in the above example the reported question has no auxiliary "do". But there is pronoun change and backshift.

https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/reported-questions.html

ajaja.paradoxinc.org/Basic/Grammar/Speeches.html