top of page

Speech Marks

spoken straight from the source!

Introduction

Speech marks are inverted commas that show speech 

They look like this: " "

 

They always come in pairs: one at the beginning and one at the end of what is being said!

For example: "Hello there"

 

 

Rule 1

Speech marks go around the actual words that are being said.

For example:

  • Ricky said, "What did you say?"

  • "I don't want to go out today," said Phoebe. "It's too sunny."

 

 

Rule 2

There always needs to be a comma, full stop, exclamation mark, or question mark between the speech and the speaker (before the speech mark).

For example:

  • "I need a new t-shirt," sighed Olivier.

  • Asta yelled, "Not yet!"

  • "I have a green thumb," boasted Jessica, "I can save any plant!"

 

 

Rule 3

There always needs to be a comma, full stop, exclamation mark, or question mark at the end of the speech (before the speech mark).

For example:

  • "I need a new t-shirt," sighed Olivier.

  • Asta yelled, "Not yet!"

  • "I have a green thumb," boasted Jessica, "I can save any plant!"

Rule 4

When someone new is speaking, you should start a new paragraph!

For example:

"How many potatoes is that?" inquired Cara.

"Too many," said Francis.

"It was your brother again, wasn't it?" sighed Cara. "That boy sure loves his potatoes."

Rule 5

If the speech is a complete sentence, you should always capitalise the first letter.

For example:

  • "This is a full sentence," claimed Target.

  • Tuition confirmed proudly, "Yes, this is also a full sentence."

  • "This is a complete sentence," stated Tuition. "This is another complete sentence."

     

  • "This sentence, on the other hand," proceeded Target, "has been split!"

This is called

direct speech!

there are

two here!

new sentence

this is lowercase because it's not the start of a complete sentence!

Watch the video
Back to library
Try the worksheet
Next
bottom of page