Suppose you want to tell somebody what Ram said. There are two ways of doing this:
You can repeat Ram's words (direct speech).Ram said, 'I am feeling ill.'
Or you can use reported speech:Ram said that he was feeling ill.
It is not always necessary to change the verb in reported speech. If you report something and the situation hasn't changed, you need not change the verb to the past:
Direct : Neelima said, 'My new job is very interesting.'You can also change the verb to the past:
Neelima said that her new job was very interesting.
Ravi said that he wanted to go to New York the following year.
The past simple (did/saw/knew etc.) can usually remain the same in reported speech, or you can change it into past perfect (had done/had seen/had known etc.):
Direct: Ravi said: 'I woke up feeling ill, so I didn't go to work."