Quoting People

Ways of quoting what someone has said

say verb [transitive] used when quoting what someone said in a speech, or wrote in a

book, article etc:

•John F. Kennedy once famously said "Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country."

•In their report, they say that they see no reason to change the existing system.

STUDY NOTE: Grammar

Say is used a lot in English. Below are other words and expressions which mean the same thing, and when writing essays it is a good idea to use some of these instead of repeating say every time.

write verb [transitive] used when quoting what someone wrote in a book, article etc:

• Du Bois wrote that the United States was "a land of magnificent possibilities - the home of noble souls and generous people."

point out phrasal verb to mention something in a book, article etc, which seems particularly important and relevant:

•Dr Graham points out that "All normal children show some degree of antisocial behaviour".

•As Rachel Carson points out in her book "Silent Spring", chemicals used in farming are having a devastating effect on our countryside.

STUDY NOTE: Grammar

You use As ... points out/notes/states etc to show that you agree with what the writer has said.

note / remark verb [transitive] to say that you have noticed that something is true.

Note and remark are formal words:

•Lyons (1977) notes that not all languages have tenses.

•As Brownmiller has remarked, women, on the whole, have not achieved economic equality with men in our society.

observe verb [transitive] to say that you have noticed that something is true. Observe is used when reporting someone's scientific studies, or when saying that someone points out a truth about life or the world:

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•Winnicott observed that mothers spend much of the first few months imitating their infants.

•As Joseph Heller once observed, success and failure can be equally difficult to deal

with.

state verb [transitive] used when saying what people, reports, laws and rules say. State

sounds very definite and full of authority:

•Parkinson's Law states that "work expands to fill the time available".

•As Skinner (1948) states, verbal behaviour develops according to the same principles as any other behaviour.

argue verb [transitive] used when you want to say that someone puts forward a set of

ideas:

•Rousseau argued that all men were born equal.

•As Edward Said argues: European culture gained in strength and identity by setting itself off against the Orient (Said 1995).

conclude verb [transitive] used when you are introducing the end of what someone has written, especially when it is a summary of the main point of what they wrote:

• Wagner concludes that managers should constantly try to lower costs and achieve high product quality.

claim verb [transitive] you use claim when you are saying what someone has said, and you do not believe that what they said was true or you think there is no proof for what they said:

•Some people have claimed that Kennedy was killed by the CIA.

•Doctors claimed to have found a cure for the disease.

according to... preposition used when saying what people, organizations, and

reports have said:

•According to a recent survey by Time magazine, 49 percent of Americans said they thought the President was doing a good job.

•Young children need at least ten hours of sleep a day, according to Dr. Shaefer.

in the words of ... used when saying exactly what someone has said, especially when this seems to sum up a situation very well:

• In the words of one professor, the object of teaching English literature is not to pass on knowledge, but to train the imagination.

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