Use of quotes

Question

Please provide further explanation about the phrase "Peut-être qu'elle est allée dire bonjour..."  I believe that in English, we would write it, "Perhaps she went to say 'Hello' ..."  Why does French not have quote marks around something that is said?  For example, how would you write the following in French:  The farmer said, "I'm going into town to buy a cat."?

Accepted Answer

Richard, for the first part of your question, ‘dire bonjour (à …)’ means to issue a salutation/greeting.  It is not ‘reported’ speech.
‘To say hello to ..’  can be used in exactly the same way in English.
 https://www.wordreference.com/fren/dire%20bonjour
https://www.wordreference.com/fren/bonjour
 https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/hello 
 
For the 2nd part of your question, the following links are worth reading :
https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/reported-speech/
 https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/indirect-speech/