indirect speech (reported speech): reporting someone’s words without quoting them verbatim; a grammatical way of conveying what someone said.
先生は授業で直接話法と間接話法の違いを説明した。
The teacher explained the difference between direct speech and indirect speech in class.
彼女の言葉を間接話法で伝えるときは、時制や人称に注意する。
When conveying her words in indirect speech, pay attention to tense and person.
「明日は休む」と直接に言われた文を間接話法に直すと、語順が変わることがある。
A sentence that was directly said as “I'll be off tomorrow” may change word order when converted to indirect speech.