Quoted & Reported Speech

We often have to give information about what people say or think. In order to do this you can use “direct = quoted” speech, or “indirect = reported” speech.

Saying exactly what someone has said is called direct speech (sometimes called quoted speech) * Here what a person says appears within quotation marks ("...") (‘ ‘), also called inverted commas, and should be word for word. For example - My teacher said, "Today's lesson is on presentations." or - "Today's lesson is on presentations,” said my teacher.

A) Sentences like: - Sara said, “I need to take a taxi.” - The psychologist said, “You should calm down.” - She said, “My mother is not feeling well.” 1- use comma after said, and open a quotation mark. 2- Capitalize the first word of the sentence. 3- Close the quotation mark after the period.

B) Sentences like: - “I need to take a taxi,” said Sara. - “You should calm down,” said the psychologist. - “My mother is not feeling well,” she said. 1- Use a comma at the end of the sentence when it comes before (said) 2- Use a period after said.

C) Sentences like: - “My mother,” she said, “is not feeling well.” 1- If the quoted sentence is devided by (she said), use a comma after the first part of the qoute. 2- Do not capitalize the first word after (she said). 3- Use a period at the end of the sentence and before the quotation mark.

A) “My father is in hospital. He is very sick,” she said. Or B) “My father is in hospital,” she said. “He is very sick.”

- She asked, “Do you speak English?” - “Do you speak English?” she asked. - She said, “Watch out!” 1- the question mark or the exclamation mark is inside the closing quotation marks. 2- no comma is used before (she asked).

Say and ask are the most commonly used quote verbs. But there are some others like: Add, agree, answer, beg, comment, suggest, reply, whisper…etc.