explication : Direct/reported speech

[houda-dz]

Je viens de consulter une leçon de grammaire sur ce site et un point de grammaire reste sombre pour moi. Pouvez-vous m'expliquer ce sui suit :

.verbs used to report statements

(...say,tell,promise,agree,,explain,,shout,insist, ,answer, .)

"say" is not usually followed by the person addressed:he said(that)he would be in Algiers for a week.
"tell" must be followed by the person addressed(there are some exceptions!):he told me/him/her(that)he would be here soon.

Je ne vois pas la différence entre "say" et "tell". ou veut-on en venir ?
ex:
He said he was ill.
- He said to me : "I'm ill".
- He told me he was ill.



Direct Speech Reported Speech
Présent ( ex : he plays, he is playing ) Prétérit ( he played, he was playing )
Prétérit ( he played, he was playing ) Past Perfect ( he had played, he had been playing )
Present Past Perfect
Will Would
Can Could
May Might
Must Had to
Would, could, should, ought to, might Ne changent pas, mais il faut accorder le verbe




Merci