Structure: Direct and Indirect Speech

Back to: ENGLISH LANGUAGE SS3

 

Welcome to class! 

In today’s class, we will be talking about structure: direct and indirect speech, etc. Enjoy the class!

Structure: Direct and Indirect Speech

Direct speech:

This refers to the quoting by a speaker or writer, of the actual utterance of another speaker or writer. This is usually indicated by the use of quotation marks, opening and closing.

Examples

1. Obioma said, ‘I will return next month, by the grace of God.’
2. In the word of Shakespeare ‘Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.’
3. Their pastor always says, ‘we owe nothing to ourselves but owe everything to God.’
4. According to Acheb, ’Proverbs are the palm oil with which the Igbo eat their words.,
5. ‘We have neither been fed nor accommodated since we arrived yesterday, ’the visitors complained bitterly.

Features of direct speech

1. The direct speech is enclosed with inverted commas, opening an closing.
2. It is usually followed by a reporting verb, which may be in the past or present; for example; ‘she said’.
3. Sometimes, the direct speech is introduced by such expressions as; ‘According to…’
4. The direct speech is preceded by a comma or a colon, as we find in the following example; The lady always says, ‘My restaurant offers you some of the best dishes in town.’
5. Direct speech begins with a capital letter.

Indirect speech:

This reports what a speaker or writer has said without using his exact words

Examples

1. Obioma said that he would return the following month by the grace of God.
2. Shakespeare says that the head that wears the crown lies uneasy.
3. Their pastor always says that they owe nothing to themselves but owe everything to God.
4. Achebe said that proverbs are the palm oil with which the Igbo eat their words.
5. The visitors complained bitterly that they had neither been fed nor accommodated since they arrived the previous day.

Features of indirect speech

1. Quotation marks are not used in the reported speech because it is not a direct quotation.
2. Usually, the reporting verb found in the direct speech is used but sometimes it could be changed if the reporter feels like doing so
3. If the reporting verb is in the past, the verb in the reported speech would change to the past tense.

If the reporting verb is in the present or future, the verb in the reported speech does not change.

If what is expressed in the direct speech is a universal truth, no changes take place in the reported speech, no matter the nature of the reporting verb

Contrasting Stress

The stressing of a particular word more than other words in a sentence is referred to as emphatic or contrastive stress. Such as stress normally has its implications in terms of the meaning of the sentence.

Examples

1. JAMES borrowed the novel (i.e. James, not anybody else borrowed it)
2. James BORROWED the novel. (I.e. James didn’t, for example, steal or buy the novel, he borrowed it.)
3. We MUST honour the invitation. (whether we like it or not)
4. I BOUGHT the book. (I didn’t steal it)
5. This is Mr Obi. (of special fame)

Comprehension: Meteors

The passage is adopted from the New Atlas of the Universe by Patrick More. It centres on Meteors, the junior member of the solar system. They are small and very plentiful in the solar system. There are two types of Meteors; showers and sporadic meteor.

Evaluation

Questions, Page 152

Vocabulary: Astronomy

The lexis and structures on the vocabulary of astronomy.

Some of the words used include the universe, orbits, planets, eclipse, cosmonaut, satellite, galaxies, etc.

1. Astronomy: the Scientifics study of the universe, especially of the motions, positions, sizes, composition, and behaviour of astronomical objects.
2. Universe: the totality of all matter and energy that exists in the vastness of space, whether known to human beings or not. 
3. Planet: an astronomical object that orbits a star and does not shine with its own light, especially one of those orbiting the sun in the solar system.
4. Stars: an astronomical object usually visible as a small bright point of light in the sky.
5. Orbit: a single revolution an astronomical object around a larger astronomical object.
6. Cosmonaut: an astronaut in the space programmes of Russia and the formal Soviet Union.
7. Galaxies: a group of billions of stars and their planets, gas and dust that extends over many thousands of light-years and forms a unit within the universe.
8. Eclipse: the partial or complete hiding from view of an astronomical object, e.g. the Sun or Moon, when another astronomical object comes between it and the observer.
9. Astronaut: someone trained to travel and perform tasks in space.
10. Gravity: the attraction due to gravitation that the Earth or another astronomical object exerts on an object on or near its surface.

Reading assignment

Nominalization of infinitives.

 

In our next class, we will be talking about Writing: Formal and Informal Letters.  We hope you enjoyed the class.

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