Dialogue tags are tricky little things. Indeed, they’re one of the most common issues I see in manuscripts. There are so many things that can go wrong – punctuation, layout, how often they’re used, ordering, and the issue that today’s blog is all about: speech verbs.
Before I get into which verbs are generally acceptable and which aren’t, I thought worth including a quick refresher on what dialogue tags are (or speech tags, as they’re sometimes called).
What is a dialogue tag?
Essentially, a dialogue tag is the bit of admin that goes around a line of dialogue to tell the reader who is speaking and how. They can come before or after the dialogue itself, and they can be short – as simple as “he said” – or they can be much longer, encompassing an action or reaction.
Grammatically, they’re part of the same sentence as the line of dialogue itself. They refer to, and rely on, the dialogue itself to make them whole.
They contain a “speech verb”, a verb that describes how the words are spoken. This is usually “said” and anything else that can be used interchangeably with it, like “shouted”, “whispered”, “asked”, etc.
In the examples below, the dialogue tags are underlined and the speech verbs are highlighted in bold. You can see how the underlined bits on their own are not full sentences.
- “Of course,” she said, nodding.
- “I believe you,” she said, though she wasn’t sure she did.
- “How did you do that?” she asked with a smile.
- He shouted, “They’re coming!”
You could, of course, rewrite these examples to turn the dialogue tags into separate standalone sentences. When you take a dialogue tag and turn it into a separate action, reaction, or description, you’ll notice that the speech verbs disappear.
- She nodded. “Of course.”
- “I believe you.” She wasn’t sure she did.
- She smiled. “How did you do that?”
- “They’re coming!” His shout echoed down the tunnel.
Right. So, what’s the problem?
An issue I see quite often in self-published books – and sometimes traditionally published books too – is that an author will treat an action that should be a separate sentence as if it’s a dialogue tag.
- “Of course,” she nodded.
- “How did you do that?” she smiled.
This means other verbs, like “nodded” or “smiled”, are forced to act like speech verbs.
But you can’t nod a full sentence. You can’t smile a few words to someone.
It’s just physically impossible.
It’s arguable that these sentences are still understandable. We know what the author means, after all – that the character spoke the words aloud and they smiled or nodded around the same time, not that they somehow conveyed the words through an unrelated and purely physical gesture.
But these little moments do create confusion and distraction for readers, pulling them out of their immersion in the world of the book. And that feels like a shame when they can be so easily avoided.
How to decide if a verb is a “speech verb”
For a verb to be a speech verb, it needs to describe a method of conveying words. That usually means speaking them aloud in some way, but it could also mean signing them in sign language or – in a world where your characters can communicate telepathically – it might mean some other way of pushing the information from one person to another.
A simple test would be to imagine yourself looking at a clock. Your friend can’t see it, and so you need to tell them what the time is. Does the verb you want to use in a dialogue make sense in a sentence that describes how you tell your friend? “I ____ the time”? Would your friend get the message?
| “I said the time.” ✅ | > “Good morning,” I said. |
| “I shouted the time.” ✅ | > “Good morning,” I shouted. |
| “I whispered the time.” ✅ | > “Good morning,” I whispered. |
| “I murmured the time.” ✅ | > “Good morning,” I murmured. |
| “I sang the time.” ✅ | > “Good morning,” I sang. |
| “I signed the time.” ✅ | > “Good morning,” I signed. |
| “I smiled the time.” ❌ | > “Good morning,” I smiled. Instead, this should be: – I smiled. “Good morning.” – “Good morning,” I said, smiling. |
| “I nodded the time.” ❌ | > “Good morning,” I nodded. Instead, this should be: – I nodded. “Good morning.” – “Good morning,” I said, nodding. |
| “I waved the time.” ❌ | > “Good morning,” I waved. Instead, this should be: – I waved good morning. – I waved. “Good morning.” – “Good morning,” I said, waving. |
The grey areas
Admittedly, there are some grey areas.There are verbs that involve making a noise, but not necessarily a noise that can convey a full sentence of words. Some authors and editors might find these perfectly acceptable, but others disagree.
Personally, I think using these words as a speech verbs can sometimes be really effective at capturing the way a few words or a very short sentence said. But the longer the sentence gets, the weirder it sounds for your character to be “laughing” or “gasping” their way through it. If it feels like it’s detracting from the dialogue rather than adding to it, you can simply rephrase it.
Feel free to use your own judgement and a bit of artistic license!
| “I giggled the time.” 🤷 | > “Good morning,” I giggled. But could also be: – I giggled. “Good morning.” – “Good morning,” I said, giggling. |
| “I sighed the time.” 🤷 | > “Good morning,” I sighed. But could also be: – I sighed. “Good morning.”“ – Good morning,” I said, sighing. |
| “I laughed the time.” 🤷 | > “Good morning,” I laughed. But could also be: – I laughed. “Good morning.” – “Good morning,” I said, laughing. |
What about “speak”? Is “spoke” a speech verb?
Surely “speak” is a speech verb? It’s right there in the name!
Well, yes, technically, you can speak a sentence or a few words, but would you encourage someone to “speak hello” in the same way you might ask them to “say hello”? Would you “speak the time” in the same way you’d “shout the time” to your friend who can’t see the clock?
Speaking does, of course, convey words. And while it sounds fine in the abstract or general – “I spoke the truth” or “I spoke to him” – it just sounds plain wrong when you use it as a direct speech tag with a specific line of dialogue. And if it can’t be used completely interchangeably with “said”, that means it’s not truly a speech verb.
In 99% of cases, it’s better to change it or rewrite the dialogue tag as a separate sentence.
Take these examples:
- “I love you,” he spoke.
- She shivered and spoke, “It’s cold out there today.”
They would sound far better as:
- “I love you,” he said.
- She shivered as she spoke. “It’s cold out there today.”
If this blog hasn’t satisfied your curiosity about dialogue tags, do check out my previous blog, How often should you use speech tags in dialogue?
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