Sarah

Quickly Help me!   Sat Jun 02, 2007 10:50 pm GMT
Hello everybody,
I would like to know the difference between"direct speech" and "indirect speech" from a linguistic pespective?
I do need it before 6 hours, when my exam will start!
Thanks in advance..
Sarah   Sat Jun 02, 2007 10:54 pm GMT
Oops, It was a mistake!:)
Skippy   Sat Jun 02, 2007 10:57 pm GMT
haha I took German so I should know this... But I really don't... My understanding is that indirect speech is when the first person reports another person's discourse... Like, "He told me he likes stuff."

Direct speech is when, in English, you'd use quotations, saying exactly what the other person said. "He told me, 'I like stuff'".

I come up with the best sentences ever.
furrykef   Sun Jun 03, 2007 12:29 am GMT
Skippy is correct. In English, indirect speech often (but not always) uses the word "that": "He told me that he likes stuff." You always use quotation marks with direct speech and never with indirect speech.