Modren Scots Grammar by Christine Robinson

Author:Christine Robinson [Robinson, Christine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Grammar & vocabulary
Publisher: Luath Press Ltd
Published: 2013-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

Direct and Indirect Speech

The teacher said ‘Ma pet moose likes grapes’.

This is direct speech yaisin the speaker’s ain wirds jist as they were said. We pit the speech in invertit commas.

The teacher said that her pet moose liked grapes.

This is indirect or reportit speech. Ye report whit the speaker haes said in yer ain wirds. There’s nae invertit commas and there’s ither differences as weel, because ye are a different person in a different place at a different time fae the speaker. The first person becomes the third person and the tense is pit in the past.

In the sentences

The teacher said naething.

The teacher said a poem.

Naething and a poem are baith objects.

That her pet moose liked grapes is warkin the same wey. It is bein an object. It is also a clause wi a verb o its ain.

‘Can Mary come tae the concert wi me this weekend?’

She asked if Mary cuid gae tae the concert wi her that weekend.

The question merk tells that ye need a verb that haes tae dae wi a question like ask, inquire or speir. We need a conjunction tae introduce the subordinate clause, like if, gin or whether. The verb gaes intae the past tense. Come haes tae become gae or gang, because we are luikin at it fae oor pynt o view, no Mary’s. First person me becomes third person her. This becomes that, because, by the time the speech is reported, the weekend Mary means micht be past. Wi yes, no and exclamations, ye micht need tae be a wee bit creative. ‘Yes,’ he said. micht become He agreed. ‘Jings! Crivvens!’ she exclaimed micht become She expressed surprise or She uttered an exclamation o surprise.

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