In Russian, in order to convey someone's words in the text, such a syntactic construction as direct speech is used. Schemes (there are four of them) in a visual form display which signs are placed and where. To understand this, you need to understand the abbreviations indicated in them.
Difference between direct speech and indirect speech
You can report someone's statements either on behalf of the one who pronounces them (this is direct speech), or from a third person, and then it will be indirect. In the article we will consider the first option in more detail. Schemes of direct and indirect speech differ, as they are designed and sound differently in the text, for example:
- "I'll be late from work today," Mom said. The text reflects word for word what the mother said, conveying information from her personally. In this case, the scheme of direct speech is divided into the one who speaks, and directly into the content.
- Mom said it would be late from work today. In this version, the words are not transmitted on behalf of the speaker. In writing, indirect speech is a complex syntactic construction in which the author's words come first and are its main part.
There are 4 direct speech transmission schemes in which the following designations are used:
- P - indicates the capital letter with which direct speech begins.
- p - means the beginning of speech with a small letter.
- A are author's words starting with a capital letter.
- a is a lowercase letter.
Depending on what symbols are used and where they stand in the diagram, one can construct a sentence. Which will correspond to it or, conversely, the existing text will allow you to paint it schematically.
Direct speech at the beginning of the text
Schemes of direct speech, in which it precedes the words of the author, look like this:
- "P" - a.
- "P?" - a.
- "P!" - a.
If the author's words are preceded by direct speech, the rules (the diagram reflects this) require that it be enclosed in quotation marks, and between them put a punctuation mark corresponding to the emotional coloring of the statement. If it is narrative, then the parts are separated by a comma. With an interrogative or exclamatory emotion, signs are put in speech that convey this stylistic coloring of the sentence. For example:
- "We are going to the sea in summer," said the girl.
- "Are we going to the sea in summer?" the girl asked.
- "We are going to the sea in summer!" - the girl shouted joyfully.
In these examples, the same content of direct speech is conveyed with different emotional overtones. The author's words also change in accordance with these changes.
Wordsauthor at the beginning of the speech
Schemes of direct speech (with examples below), in which the words of the author begin a syntactic construction, are used when it is important to indicate the speaker. They look like this:
- A: "P".
- A: "P?"
- A: "P!"
The diagrams show that after the words of the author, which begin with a capital letter, as they are at the beginning of a sentence, it is necessary to put a colon. Directly direct speech is enclosed by quotation marks on both sides and begins with a capital letter, as an independent syntactic construction. At the end, a punctuation mark is placed corresponding to the emotional content of the text. For example:
- The boy came up and said in a low voice: "I need to go home to my sick mother." In this example, direct speech is located behind the words of the author and has a neutral color, so a period is placed at the end.
- A cry of indignation escaped her lips: "How can you not notice this injustice!" The sentence has an emotionally expressive coloring that conveys strong indignation. Therefore, the direct speech that follows the words of the author and is enclosed in quotation marks ends with an exclamation mark.
The girl looked at him in surprise, "Why don't you want to go camping with us?" Although the author's words indicate such an emotion as surprise, direct speech sounds like a question, so there is a question mark at the end
It is important to remember: the direct speech behind the words of the author is always capitalized and separated from them by a colon.
Thirdscheme
Not always direct speech with the author's words follow one another. Often, to improve the sound of the artistic style, they can interrupt each other, in which case the sentence schemes look like this:
- "P, - a, - p".
- "P, - a. - P.”
The diagrams show that direct speech is divided into 2 parts by the words of the author. The punctuation in these sentences is such that they are always separated from direct speech on both sides by hyphens. If a comma is placed after the words of the author, the continuation of direct speech is written with a small letter, and if there is a period, then it begins as a new sentence with a capital letter. For example:
- "I'll pick you up tomorrow," Yegor said, getting into the car, "don't oversleep."
- "Mom arrives early in the morning," said Dad. “You need to book a taxi in advance.”
- "What are you doing here? Maria asked. “Shouldn’t you be at the lecture?”
- "How stubborn you are! Sveta exclaimed. “I don’t want to see you again!”
Important: although in the last two examples the initial part of direct speech ends not with a comma, but with question and exclamation marks, the author's words are written with a small letter.
Direct speech between the words of the author
The fourth scheme of direct speech explains what signs are placed when it stands between the words of the author.
- A: "P" - a.
- A: "P?" - a.
- A: "P!" - a.
For example:
- The announcer said: "Today is on the news" - and for some reason he stumbled.
- Echoes from afar: "Where are you?" - and it became againquiet.
- Brother rudely replied: "None of your business!" - and quickly walked out the door.
You should not be limited to the schemes listed above, since direct speech can consist of any number of sentences, for example:
"How good! - Grandma exclaimed, - I thought we would never get home. Tired to death." The scheme of this syntactic construction is as follows:
"P! - a, - p. P."
The Russian language is very expressive and there are more ways to convey someone else's speech in writing than fit in 4 classical schemes. Knowing the basic concepts of direct speech and punctuation marks with it, you can make a sentence of any complexity.
