Jose Carillo's English Forum
Joe Carillo's Desk => You Asked Me This Question => Topic started by: Michael E. Galario on September 29, 2017, 06:27:30 AM
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Hi sir Joe,
How's your day? I hope you are doing ok.
By the way, I just dropped by to ask you in which sentence structure does the Quoted or Direct Speech fall - simple or compound? (Just thought of it yesterday while reading a book)
She said, "I am going to Baguio next week."
Thank you!
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Sorry, Mike, I overlooked this question of yours when it got buried by subsequent posts in the “You Asked Me This Question” section before it got marked with a Topic Sticky. (That way it stayed out sight at or near the bottom of all postings in the section.)
A properly attributed quoted or direct speech like the one you presented, “She said, ‘I am going to Baguio next week,’ has a complex sentence structure. The attribution clause, “She said,” is the main or independent clause, while the quoted or direct statement, “I am going to Baguio next week,” is the subordinate or dependent clause. We must always keep in mind that quoted or direct speech is simply a form of a complex sentence, which in this case is in this form: “She said that she was going to Baguio the following week.” Restating it as a direct statement doesn’t alter this complex structure; it just highlights the direct statement by way putting it within an open and close quote to clearly distinguish it from the attribution clause. There are, of course, grammar rules on how the elements of the direct speech need to be converted into indirect speech. (Read my Forum posting on “Reported speech needs advanced grammar skills and a quick mind.” (http://josecarilloforum.com/forum/index.php?topic=1580.0))
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Thanks sir Joe.
I was also considering the structure as complex the first time I thought of it, but I wasn't sure about it. The reason why I limited my options between simple and compound is that the quoted speech syntax doesn't have the subordinators as its marker to be considered as complex sentence unlike that of the indirect speech. What we have from the structure are two clauses - reporting clause and the reported or content clause. I rationalized that both clauses could stand separately on its own.