Year 4 · SPaG · Direct speech
Year 4 punctuating direct speech worksheet and PowerPoint
To punctuate direct speech correctly: inverted commas, a capital letter, and a comma, question mark or exclamation mark before the closing marks.
Direct speech
Direct speech is the exact words someone says. Put them inside inverted commas (speech marks). The punctuation before the closing marks goes inside them. Reported speech tells you what was said without the exact words: it has no inverted commas.
| direct speech | “We are late,” said Mum. |
|---|---|
| reporting clause | said Mum / asked Tom / shouted the coach |
| new speaker | start a new line for each new speaker |
| reported speech | Mum said that we were late. |
Examples
- “Where are you going?” asked Dad.
- Dad asked where we were going.
Key words
- direct speech
- the exact words someone says
- inverted commas
- marks “ ” that go round direct speech
- reporting clause
- tells you who spoke: said Mum
- reported speech
- what was said, without the exact words
What is on the worksheet
Every sheet for this lesson has a short teaching box and 12 questions that get gradually harder: 8 fluency questions, then 4 reasoning questions that ask pupils to explain or choose. A writing challenge follows. The questions use the same styles as the key stage 2 grammar and punctuation test (circle, underline, tick, fill the gap, add punctuation, rewrite, explain). They are written for this website, not copied from past papers.
All the answers are on the last page of the same editable Word file. New questions are made every time, so you can print a different sheet for every group or for homework. The same sheet code always gives the same sheet.
Writing challenge: Write a conversation of six lines between two friends deciding where to go on Saturday. Punctuate every line.
Pupil target: I can punctuate direct speech.
The PowerPoint
A 20-slide lesson deck for the same lesson: a starter that revisits earlier learning, key words, an I do and a You do question on each slide with a countdown timer, answers that appear one click at a time, and a challenge. Download the punctuating direct speech PowerPoint.
Where this lesson fits
This is lesson 15 of 60 in the Year 4 SPaG scheme, in the block “Direct speech”.
Other lessons in this block
- Recognising direct speech
- Direct speech with reporting verbs
- Direct or indirect speech
- Direct speech together
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