Direct Speech

K: Know what direct speech is.

U: Understand the use of direct speech in sentences.

D: Apply proper speech marks in sentences.

Words of the Day

1. Speech marks

2. Dialogue

Direct Speech

Direct speech repeats, or quotes, the exact words spoken. When we use direct speech in writing, speech marks like this ("   ") go before and after the words spoken in a text.

Example: "I can't believe I'm going to be late!" shouted Ryan.

A capital letter is used for the opening word of a speech/dialogue. A comma is usually used before we used the closed speech mark.

Example: "I'm so hungry, I could eat a whale," said Mya.

However, some sentences use other punctuations like period, exclamation mark, and question mark to indicate emotion from the speaker.

Example: "What do you mean Evan ate all the chocolate?" asked Priyanka?

"It means he ate all the chocolate and now he's in the nurse's office!" exclaimed Arsham.

When the dialogue is connected by the same speaker, a comma is always added after the speaker's action.

Example: "Calm down," Jerome said to Christian, "Just because you didn't study doesn't mean you'll fail. Probably."

Here is a good website that explains about direct speech!

Task Time

Using your textbook on page 18, do Part A, B, and C. Your questions and answers must be written in your Grammar book.

For those who have left their textbook at home, do go to your Schoology. There, in your Homeroom course, click on the English folder, then move on to the Week 7 folder where you can have access to the textbook page. 

In the meantime, let's try out the first few questions!

Parts A: Apply the proper speech marks and punctuations to the sentence.

1. The boy said. He's won the golden ticket.

Part B: Turn the sentence around so that the action and dialogue are reversed.

"He's won the golden ticket!" the boy said.

Part C: Rewrite the passage by using proper punctuations and also by replacing the word 'said'.

shouted   whispered   screamed   asked   explained

Charlie picked up the chocolate bar and tore off the wrapper...and suddenly there came a flash of gold. What is that said the shopkeeper

Exit Task

Click on this link or go to joinmyquiz.com to test your knowledge about direct speech!