We can easily learn new language though reading, verbal communication and even into writing. We can understand clearly what the other person is talking about if we tend to listen to his or her statements. As the other person is talking right in front of you or to the public, we clearly hear the sound that he or she produces through listening. That’s why w can understand them easily especially when they are quoting some information for us to know.
But when it comes into writing, it will be a whole lot different upon quoting up some statements from reliable sources or reliable people. But then, there are some ways in order to make these statements clearer to the eyes of your readers.
When referencing information or a statement that somebody verbally uttered, we often write about it using verbs such as “say,” “tell,” “talk,” and “speak”. As such, you say “Congressman Downes told reporters that the new bills are on its way to being passed.”
However, the same verbal speak is also used to refer to words that are stated using a written form, such as a research journal, a book or an emailed press release. That’s typically where some English speakers get confused. In fact, I once heard an argument that you shouldn’t use the aforementioned words ( “say,” “tell,” “talk,” and “speak”) when referring to written text since paper doesn’t exactly make a sound.
Although for some reason, we are used in spoken languages since we first learn from it. When these spoken statements are put down in to writing, the readers can visualized that these quoted statements is a transcription of speech of a certain reliable person about the topic. However, the emotions of the person whose statements are being quoted by the author can’t be indentified easily since the author put it down into writing.
In truth, however, it’s perfectly correct to use those words to refer to written material as long as you are careful of the attribution. As a general rule, try referring to the person responsible for the statement to ensure correct usage. When working from a term paper, for instance, you can say that “The author tells us that the experiment is inconclusive.”
In cases where the author isn’t easily used, as in the case of a scientific journal with ten names listed, it’s also generally accepted to refer to the inanimate object as the speaker, as in “The research tells us that the experiment is inconclusive.”
However, this can lead to some confusion (though not frequently), so it’s best to be careful and examine your usage to ensure that the message is perfectly clear. Make sure to pass your writing through a good writing software and grammar checker during editing to catch any potential mistakes.
But then, these words can be use when the writer wants to report something that a particular person had stated. And if you are going to quote something about that person’s speech, you should be careful enough in writing those words down and don’t add or omit some words in a person’s original statements.
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