Very often during the writing of some texts there is a need to convey other people's words. And for many, this becomes the main difficulty. How to arrange someone else's speech? What punctuation marks should I put? This article will help you figure this out.
How to convey other people's words. What is indirect speech
There are many ways to convey someone else's speech. You can arrange direct speech, use an introductory word, or reformulate it into indirect speech. What is indirect speech? We can say that this is a retelling of other people's words. In this type of sentence, the author’s words are in the main part, and the second part is called an indirect speech, i.e. these are words spoken by someone. Direct and indirect speech in Russian are pretty close neighbors. However, direct, as opposed to indirect, requires a clear separation of copyright words and compliance with the punctuation marks.
Direct and indirect speech in Russian
To understand how these two types of speech are related, it is worth sorting out each separately. For starters, consider the features of direct speech using examples.
“Please bring some milk,” my mother asked.
This proposal will correspond to the scheme - "P" - a. P - direct speech. A / a - the author’s words with a capital or lowercase letter, respectively.
Direct speech is enclosed in quotation marks. If this is a narrative sentence, a comma is placed after the closing quotation mark. It is worth noting and remembering. Since if a sentence with a direct speech is interrogative or incentive (ending with “!”), Then the interrogative and exclamation marks will appear before the closing quotation mark. "P?" - a. "P!" - a.
If the author’s words come first, they begin with a capital letter. A: "P".
Mom asked: "Please bring some milk."
Exclamation and question marks in this case are also placed before the closing quotation mark.
Also, the author’s words can stand between two parts of direct speech.
“Son,” my mother turned to me, holding out a leaf, “please go to the store to get these products.”
Conversely, direct speech can stand between two parts of the author’s words.
Mom handed me a list of products: "Here, go to the store" - and the money.
According to these examples, it is clear that for the design of direct speech, it is necessary to observe many rules for the punctuation marks. Indirect speech is different in this regard.
Example: He said he was glad to see me.
This sentence is made much simpler, but, nevertheless, it is also possible to highlight the part related to the author’s words.
Indirect Speech Education
Why do you need to be able to understand direct speech? Everything is very simple. This will help to better understand what indirect speech is. These two ways of transmitting other people's words are both similar and different. Very often when writing various copyright texts, it becomes necessary to translate direct speech into indirect. Indirect sentences are the same complex sentences. That is, they have the main part, from which you can ask a question to the subordinate part. Suggestions with indirect speech are formed on the same principle. The author’s words become the main part, and someone else’s speech becomes secondary, that is, one to which a clarifying question can be asked. The subclause is separated from the main comma. This is the main point that you should pay attention to when placing punctuation marks.
To build a sentence with an indirect speech, we take the line as a basis.
“Please bring some milk,” my mother asked.
Mom asked me to bring milk. Mom asked for what? From the main part (the words of the author), a question is asked to the subordinate (indirect speech).
Grandfather said: "It will snow soon." - Grandfather said that it would snow soon.
Foreign words and the words of the author in sentences with indirect speech are combined with the help of subordinate conjunctions, pronouns, adverbs. Which one to choose from will depend on the meaning and purpose of the statement.
Indirect Speech Features
When composing a sentence with an indirect speech, you should always remember some features. Firstly, indirect speech does not always literally convey other people's words. They may change a little, but the meaning should be preserved. Secondly, the omission of certain words is likely. For example, interjections. Other means may be used for expressiveness. The main thing is that stylistic features are preserved and meaning is not lost.
Material fastening
To consolidate this material, you can arrange yourself a small test in direct and indirect speech. Find examples of direct speech and translate it into indirect. And vice versa. This will help to finally understand the features of sentences with other people's words and to feel confident when writing them. Below are suggestions with which you can start a self-test:
The servant said, "Breakfast is served."
(The servant said breakfast was served.)
Anya shouted: “It doesn’t matter that it’s rain, let's go for a walk!”
(Anya screamed that she was calling for a walk, and it doesn’t matter that it is raining.)
“Yes, a very interesting book,” he said, turning over the last page.
(Turning to the last page, he agreed that the book is very interesting.)
She said that it’s not worth going there.
(“You should not go there,” she said.)
He nodded, agreeing that the film was spectacular.
(“Yes, the film is exciting,” he agreed.)
This practice of changing sentences will help you more confidently navigate the rules and remember what indirect speech is and how to use it.