One afternoon, Kevin ran into his friend Lisa near the school gate. "Did you hear?" Kevin asked. "Jason told me he would come to our study group tomorrow." Lisa was happy to hear the news. She called another classmate, Amy, right away. "Kevin told me that Jason would come to the study group," she said.
However, the next morning, Jason did not show up. Lisa called him to ask what happened. "I said I might come tomorrow," Jason explained. "I never said I would come for sure. I have an exam to prepare for." Lisa realized that Kevin had not reported Jason's words correctly.
When Kevin heard this, he understood his mistake. Earlier that day, Jason had said, "I might come tomorrow." But Kevin changed "might" to "will" without noticing. When he told Lisa about it, he said, "Jason said he would come." This one small change in words led to a big misunderstanding.
In English, we have two ways to report what someone says. Direct speech uses the speaker's exact words inside quotation marks. For example: Jason said, "I will come tomorrow." Indirect speech reports the meaning without quotation marks. When we change direct speech to indirect speech, "will" becomes "would," and "I" becomes "he" or "she."
From that day on, Kevin was more careful when passing on a message. He learned that whether we use direct or indirect speech, we must report what was actually said. Careful listening and accurate reporting are the keys to clear communication.