Our topic today is direct speech suggestions. Examples of such proposals are found everywhere: in fiction, magazines, newspapers, and journalistic materials. Already from the very name “direct speech” it becomes clear that in this case the author of the text conveys the words of a person exactly as they were spoken.
What is the difference between direct and indirect speech?
In direct speech, any statement retains its own characteristics - syntactic, lexical and stylistic. With the words of the author, it is connected only by intonation and meaning, while remaining an independent construction.
If we are talking about sentences with indirect speech, then the author conveys someone else's speech without its syntactic, stylistic and lexical features, keeping only the content of the statement unchanged. Moreover, depending on the goals of the author and the context, the statement can be changed.
Let us consider in more detail the sentences with direct speech. Examples of such constructions may look as follows:
- Ivan said: “Let's quickly remove the class and go to the park!”
- “It's warm outside today,” said Anna. “It seems spring has finally taken over.”
- “Would you like some tea?” - asked the guests Daniel.
Now we will try to reformulate these same sentences in such a way that instead of direct speech they use indirect:
- Ivan offered to quickly finish cleaning the class and go to the park.
- Anna noted that it became unusually warm on the street and spring finally came into its own.
- Daniel asked the guests if they would like some tea.
Feel the difference? Then move on.
Direct Proposal Spelling Basics
Punctuation in direct speech transmission directly depends on how the statement is located in the sentence regarding the author’s words.
Direct speech at the beginning of the sentence
The entire statement in this case is indicated by quotation marks (""). Depending on the type of sentence (narrative, exclamation, or interrogative), further transition to the author’s words can be different:
- for narrative sentences: “DIRECT SPEECH”, - the words of the author;
- for exclamatory (incentive) sentences: "DIRECT SPEECH!" - the words of the author;
- for interrogative sentences: “DIRECT SPEECH?” - the words of the author.
Note! In narrative sentences, the end of the quote does NOT end. But the exclamation point or question mark must be set. In addition, in narrative sentences, a comma is placed after the quotation marks, but in the remaining cases it is not.
Here are some examples:
- “There will be many mushrooms in the forest today,” said Grandfather.
- “Do you think there will be many mushrooms in the forest today?” the boy asked.
- “How many mushrooms are in the forest today!” - exclaimed Zhenya.
Ready to move on?
Direct speech at the end of the sentence
In another case, direct speech may be located after the author’s words. Everything is much simpler here: immediately after the words of the author, a colon is put, and the whole quote is again enclosed in quotation marks.
Consider similar sentences with direct speech. Examples may look like this:
- Anya said: "I read an interesting book."
- The librarian asked: “Have you read the book you took a week ago?”
- Dima exclaimed: “I have never read a more interesting story in my life!”
Note! In a narrative sentence, quotation marks are first closed, and only then is a period set. But if you need to put a question mark or exclamation point, it should be exclusively inside quotation marks.
Direct speech between the words of the author
If a quote from someone’s statement is between two fragments of the author’s words, the above rules are combined.
That is, after the first part of the author’s words, a colon is put, and then direct speech and all punctuation marks are written out as if we are writing a sentence according to the first rule.
Unclear? Then try to make a sentence with a direct speech of this type:
- He said: “Today, it looks like it will rain,” and put an umbrella in his bag.
- Igor asked: "How are you?" - and handed a classmate a bouquet of wildflowers.
- Katya shouted: “Faster! All come here!" - And she began to wave her hands violently to attract attention.
You already know these rules, and therefore there should not be a problem with such suggestions at all - just be careful!
Direct speech interrupted by copyright text
But this is a rather interesting type of proposal.
As always, direct speech begins with quotation marks. Before the words of the author, a comma and a dash are placed, and after - a period, a dash and a continuation of the quote. At the same time, direct speech continues with a capital letter ! At the end of the sentence, quotation marks are closed.
Let us look in practice at such sentences with direct speech. Examples that can be given in this case:
- “Let's buy a bouquet of flowers,” Lena suggested. “Let's give it to mom.”
- “Grandma loves this service very much,” said Roman. “His grandfather gave it to me.”
Note! If, due to the rupture of direct speech, the first part loses its semantic completeness and a feeling of understatement appears, then after the words of the author you need to put a comma, and the continuation of direct speech should begin with a small letter .
- “Not bad,” said Igor, “it would be a walk along the promenade in the evening.”
- “It seems,” the girl said, “today they promised rain.”
Simply put, if the sentence can be divided into two, and the reader will still understand everything - you need a point. And if one of the fragments of direct speech separately does not make any sense, it is reasonable to put a comma and continue the thought with a small letter.
Direct Speech Parsing
Parsing sentences with direct speech is practically no different from ordinary parsing. However, you will need, among other things, to name the author and direct speech, disassemble them (as two separate sentences), explain the punctuation, and draw a diagram.
So, in practice, complex sentences with direct speech turn out to be completely simple and understandable. The main thing is to analyze each example and try to compose your options on the model.