1. Mr O‟Meara

2. Quotations
quot;I hate quotations. Tell me what you

know.“
 Ralph Waldo Emerson
“I did not have sexual relations with that

woman.”
 US President Bill Clinton.

3. Speech on the page
There are two ways of presenting the

spoken word in the written word.
 Direct speech.
 Indirect speech

4. Indirect Speech
Conveys the meaning but not the

exact words used.
 Does not use quotation marks.
 eg. Farmer Joe said that there
had not been much rain this year.
 Written the same as any other
sentence.

5. Direct Speech
Uses the exact words spoken.

 These exact words are surrounded by
quotation marks.
 Quotation marks are always used in
pairs.
 To open then close.
“There‟s been no rain this year,”

complained Farmer Joe. “It‟s a real
shame.”

6. Direct Speech: Exact Words
Quote the speech exactly as it was said.

Do not change what was said.

Do not condense or expand it without

additional cues to the reader (more on this
later).
You don‟t have to quote the entire

sentence.
As little as a single word.

As much as you need to (although special

formatting applies)

7. Direct Speech: Quotation Marks
These are also known informally as

talking marks.
 The proper name is quotation marks.
 Put quotation marks before and after the
exact words you are quoting.

8. Direct Speech: Quotation Marks
“Funny,” said Harry. “Really amusing.”

„Funny,‟ said Harry. „Really amusing.‟


9. Not for general emphasis
These are both incorrect uses of

quotation marks.
 Images from
http://www.unnecessaryquotes.com/

12. Direct Speech: Double or
Single?
British English prefers the single

quotation mark.
 American English prefers the double
quotation mark.
 In Australia either double or single
quotation marks are considered
acceptable.
 You can choose either as your personal
style but be consistent.

13. Changing types of quotation
marks
Sometimes you will need to have a quote

within a quote.
 This is when you change to the other type
of quotation mark.
“No,” he said. “It‟s not as if I am, as my ex

claimed, „emotionally damaged.‟”
 In this example the speaker is quoting
someone else‟s words: „emotionally
damaged‟.

14. You can even swap back to
show further levels of quoting.
“No,” he said. “It‟s not as if I am, as my

ex claimed, „emotionally damaged and
“prone to violence.”‟”
 In this example the ex was saying he is
“emotionally damaged” and, quoting
someone else, “prone to violence”.
 Multiple levels of quotes are possible but
can become unclear.
 Think carefully to see if you can say it
another way.

15. Quick Quiz
Direct or indirect?

a) I spoke to Barry who said he was “fine”.
b) She said she would love to see the movie.
c) The judge pronounced him guilty as
charged.
d) Dorothy whispered, “There‟s no place like
home”.
e) She said hello.

16. Quick Quiz - Answers
Direct or indirect?

a) I spoke to Barry who said he was “fine”.
○ Direct.
b) She said she would love to see the movie.
○ Indirect
c) The judge pronounced him guilty as charged.
○ Indirect
d) Dorothy whispered, “There‟s no place like
home”.
○ Direct
e) She said hello.
○ Indirect.

19. Other Punctuation
When your direct speech is

followed by a speech verb, the
full stop in the direct speech is
replaced by a comma.
 “Great,” said Spot.
 Note: this punctuation is inside
the quotation marks.

20. Other Punctuation
Although a full stop is changed, all other

terminal punctuation remains the same.
 Exclamation marks.
 “Great!” said Spot.
Question marks.

 “Why?” asked Spot.
Ellipsis

 “I wonder...” pondered Spot.

21. Other Punctuation
When your direct speech is NOT

followed by a speech verb, terminal
punctuation is unchanged.
 “Great,” said Spot. “It‟s time for dinner.”

22. Your Turn
Write the following using direct speech.

a) An exclamation followed by a speech verb.
b) A statement followed by a speech verb.
c) A questions followed by a speech verb.
Use a different speech verb for each

one.

24. Another Comma to Remember
When you use the speech verb then the

direct speech you must use a comma
just before the first quotation mark.
 This comma is outside the quotation
marks.
 Spot said, “Great.”
 Bill Clinton said, “I did not have sexual
relations with that woman.”

25. Your turn again
Write the following using direct speech.

a) A speech verb followed by an exclamation.
b) A speech verb followed by a question.
c) A speech verb followed by a statement.
Use a different speech verb for each

one.

26. Longer quotations
If you are quoting a longer passage you

put the direct speech on in a new
paragraph without quotation marks.
 Show that it is a quotation by using an
indent or another font.
 Note where the colon is used.

27. Longer quotation example
At the conclusion of the press
conference, Clinton said:
I want you to listen to me. I'm going to
say this again: I did not have sexual
relations with that woman, Miss
Lewinsky. I never told anybody to lie,
not a single time; never. These
allegations are false, and I need to go
back to work for the American people.
Thank you.

29. Contracting a quote
Now and then you might want to take

some words out of quote.
 Use an ellipsis.
eg. Clinton said, “I'm going to say this

again: I did not have sexual relations
with that woman, Miss Lewinsky...These
allegations are false”

30. Adding words to a quote
You can add your own words using

square brackets.
 This makes it clear to the reader than
this are added words.
 eg. “I never told anybody to lie [although
it turned out this whole declaration was
a lie], not a single time; never. These
allegations are false, and I need to go
back to work for the American people.
Thank you.

31. Adding words - sic
You add the word sic to a quotation

when you know the words are somehow
wrong but need to quote them exactly.
 eg. He shouted to the court, “I never did
anything to me [sic] wife!”

33. Other Uses: Nicknames
eg. I used to play in a band with “Wily”

Tim Hackett.

34. Other uses: Book title, etc
I really enjoyed “Transporter 3”.

 In the Power of English we studied
Catherine McPhail‟s novel “Missing”.

35. Other uses: someone else‟s
words
Quotation marks can show that you are

using someone else‟s words.
 This is usually done to demonstrate
disagreement.
 eg. I can‟t believe she thought I was a
“massive faker”.

37. Final Quiz
Write these out correctly.

a) “Great said Spot.
b) During the holidays, I watched Death Race
and For Your Consideration.
c) My mother said “you can‟t hurry love”
d) Help! she cried as the lion bit her arm off.
e) “Bother.” she said as the lion bit of her arm
and announced “that was delicious”.

38. Final Quiz - Answers
a) “Great,” said Spot.
b) During the holidays, I watched “Death
Race” and “For Your Consideration”.
c) My mother said, “you can‟t hurry love.”
d) “Help!” she cried as the lion bit her arm
off.
e) “Bother,” she said as the lion bit of her arm
and announced, “that was delicious”.

39. The End