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Thursday, 27 October 2011

Speech Marks

Speech Marks

What is Direct Speech?

Direct Speech is the exact speech that is used when a character is speaking, eg.

“I think is going to rain today” remarked Lucy

Note how the and marks are used to indicate the start and end of the exact words that Lucy says.

Punctuation Marks

If the character asks a question, the punctuation marks fall inside the speech marks, eg.

“Is is going to rain today?” asked Lucy

Full stops are also within the speech marks, eg.

“I think is going to rain today.

Introduced Speech

If a part of speech is introduced by a non spoken text, it has a comma before the speech, eg.

Lucy remarked, “I think it is going to rain today.”

Broken Up Speech

If part of a speech is broken up by a non spoken text then the first part of the speech ends with a comma and the non spoken speech ends with a comma, eg.

“I think is going to rain today,” remarked Lucy, “so I will bring my coat.”

Note how the second part of the speech does NOT begin with a capital as it belongs to the first part.

Two Characters Speaking

When two characters are speaking, each speech has a new line to represent a new speaker, eg.

“Hey, John!” yelled Lucy.

“Hiya!” replied John.

“Are you coming out tonight?”

“Yes, probably. It depends if I finish my homework.”

“Well if you do decide to come out that would be great.”

Note here how it is clear to see who is speaking as we know Lucy is the first speaker so the next line is John, the next is Lucy, and so on throughout the interaction.

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