General English Level 4 V 3
UNIT 01 The media TOPIC 02 Read all about it!
LANGUAGE FOCUS 06 Quoting speech
There is a special way to show when someone is speaking.
The newspaper article says:
The driver of the armoured car, Barry White, 56, said, " I usually have a partner working with me, but he was sick today. The thief came behind me and knocked me right out. I didn't know what happened! "
Police officer John O'Rourke said that the arrest was the easiest he had ever made. " I've never seen such a slow thief! " he said .

When we report the actual words someone said we call this direct speech . We put the words in quotation marks, " __ " or ' ___ ' .
The quoted speech can be at the beginning or the end of the sentence.

He
She
They
said, " John was sick today. "
" What a slow thief! "
" That was an easy arrest! "
" John was sick today, "
" What a slow thief! "
" That was an easy arrest! " 		he
she
they 		said .

Examples

1 Read the examples.
2 LIsten to the examples.
3 Practise saying each example. Use the Pause button.
Ronald said, " The police arrested me! "
" We caught the thief! " the police said .
The driver said, " He hit me on the head! "
" The bags were too heavy for me, " said Ronald.
The doctor said, " That's a nasty cut! "
" He looked so funny, we laughed! " the woman said .

Now go to 07 LANGUAGE FOCUS Newspaper reports - task.