NR08

DIRECT SPEECH

PUNCTUATION
Look carefully at the examples below and read the notes that follow:

1. She said, ‘After lessons today we will stay behind to plan the class party.’
2. ‘After lessons today we will stay behind to plan the class party,’ she said.
3. ‘After lessons today,’ she said, ‘we will stay behind to plan the class party.’
4. ‘We will stay behind today,’ she said. ‘We need to plan the class party.’
5. He asked, ‘Where shall we meet to plan the class party?’
6. ‘Where shall we meet to plan the class party?’ he asked. She said is
7. She exclaimed, ‘It’s so exciting we’re going to have a class party!’ the REPORTING
8. ‘It’s so exciting we’re going to have a class party!’ she exclaimed. CLAUSE
and it contains
9. She said, ‘We’ll stay behind today,’ and made sure we heard that. the REPORTING
10. She exclaimed, ‘It’s so exciting!’ and screeched in delight. VERB (said).
11. She thought, The class party is going to be so exciting.
12. The class party is going to be so exciting, she thought.

 Quotes are enclosed within quotation marks (also called inverted commas). You
may use single (‘ ’) or double (“ ”) quotation marks, but be consistent. For quotes
within quotes, alternate between single and double quotation marks.
 The quoted sentence always begins with a capital letter.
 A comma (,) is used to set off a quote from the reporting clause (Examples 1, 2,
3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12). However, if the quote ends with a question mark (?) or
exclamation mark (!) and the reporting clause comes after the quote, the comma
is omitted (Examples 6, 8, 10). In all cases, the end-of-quote punctuation mark is
within the quotation marks, and a reporting clause or any other phrase after the
quote does not begin with a capital letter (unless, of course, it begins with a word
that requires an initial capital letter) (Examples 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12).
 If the reporting clause interrupts a quoted sentence, the continuation of the quote
does not begin with a capital letter (Example 3). However, if the quote comprises
two sentences, then a full stop (.) is used after the reporting clause and the
second quoted sentence begins with a capital letter (Example 4).
 When using a quote structure to say what someone thought, quotation marks are
usually omitted (Examples 11, 12), but the rules of capitalization still apply.

PARAGRAPHING

A quote and its accompanying reporting clause always go into the same paragraph.
As a general rule, a new paragraph is assigned to each participant in a dialogue,
whether or not the participant actually says anything (e.g. the participant may react in
a nonverbal way). When tricky cases arise, use your discretion, bearing in mind that
your aim is to avoid ambiguity and make it easy for the reader to follow your story.

When quoting more than one paragraph:

put opening quotation marks (‘ or “) at the beginning of each paragraph,
but put closing quotation marks (’ or ”) only at the end of the last quoted paragraph.
This, however, should not be done in a short piece such as an exam composition.
REPORTING VERBS

Vary the reporting verbs you use. Don’t always stick to said, ask, and reply.
Some common reporting verbs are given below. Check the dictionary if you are not
sure how to use them.

acknowledge beg decide plead respond

add begin declare ponder rule
admit boast decree pray say
advise claim demand proclaim state
agree command enquire promise suggest
announce comment explain reason tell
answer complain grumble recite think
argue conclude insist remark urge
ask confess muse repeat vow
assert confirm observe reply warn
assure continue order report wonder

VERBS INDICATING THE MANNER OF SPEAKING

Here are some verbs which indicate the way in which something is said. Check the
dictionary if you are not sure what they mean.

blurt moan scream sniff thunder

call mock shout snort wail
chorus mumble shriek stammer whisper
cry murmur snap storm yell

ANIMAL SOUNDS THAT CAN BE APPLIED TO HUMAN SPEECH

Below are some verbs used to indicate the sounds made by particular animals.
These can be used to indicate the manner of speaking.

Verb Animal Usual associations

bark dog fierce; angry; rude
bellow bull angry; in pain
bleat goat; sheep lost, in a silly, annoying way
buzz bee; mosquito excited, sometimes in an irritating way
chirp bird happy; carefree
croak frog rough voice; sore throat; bad singer
growl bear frustrated; angry; irritated
hiss snake loud whisper, sometimes with evil intent
honk goose; swan making a loud noise
howl dog; wolf unhappy; in pain; angry
meow cat crying sound
purr cat pleased; contented; sexy voice
quack duck unable to speak properly
roar lion; tiger frustrated; angry; irritated
squawk bird complaining loudly and angrily
squeak mouse frightened