I'm not sure if you mean direct speech (or direct question) as in the question at the top of this post or what?
The terms I've used are direct speech/question and indirect or reported speech/question.
https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/sentence/reported-speech.htm
Scroll down and study the differences on this webpage, and then let us know if you want to change any of your responses, 1 - 4.
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Or are you simply trying to find the best way to phrase an answer to the question? If so, that depends on who is answering: the person who told the lie or someone who witnessed all this.
Please clarify.
What was the first man's lie?
1. It was that yesterday, he killed a big dragon with his kick.
1-2. It was that the previous day, he killed a big dragon with his kick.
2. It was that yesterday, I killed a big dragon with my kick.
3. It was, "Yesterday, I killed a big dragon with my kick."
4. Yesterday, I killed a big dragon with my kick.
[#4 is the lie which the first man told the king. In casual speech, can we use #3? What about the others?]
1 answer
2 answers