When we speak we often use our own words directly, employing the so-called direct speech. When we want to report what someone else says or thinks, we use the Indirect Speech (or Reported Speech). In Spanish there are some specific ways for Indirect Speech structures. Here we illustrate two different sets of rules for Indirect Speech in the Present, when referring to present actions, and for Indirect Speech in the Past, when talking about events and thoughts in the past. Of course these rules are more strictly respected in written and formal Spanish, and more flexibly used in spoken and informal speech.
A reference grammar with video examples from the Spanish in Texas collection