A sentence in reported speech consists of two parts: a reporting clause, which contains the reporting verb, and the reported clause.
Look at the following sentences.
(a) “I went to visit my grandma last week,” said Mamta.
(b) Mamta said that she had gone to visit her grandma the previous week.
In sentence (a), we have Mamta’s exact words. This is an example of direct speech.
In sentence (b), someone is reporting what Mamta said. This is called indirect speech or reported speech.
A sentence in reported speech is made up of two parts — a reporting clause and a reported clause. In sentence (b), Mamta said is the reporting clause containing the reporting verb said. The other clause — that she had gone to visit her grandma last week — is the reported clause. Notice that in sentence (b) we put the reporting clause first. This is done to show that we are not speaking directly, but reporting someone else’s words.
The tense of the verb also changes; past tense (went) becomes past perfect (had gone).