Year 6 · SPaG · Spring: Apostrophes and speech
Year 6 direct and reported speech worksheet and PowerPoint
To recognise direct and reported speech and to change between them, changing pronouns and verb tenses as needed.
Reported speech
Reported speech tells us what someone said without using their exact words. There are no inverted commas. The pronouns change, and the verb usually moves back into the past.
| direct speech | “I am hungry,” said Mia. |
|---|---|
| reported speech | Mia said that she was hungry. |
| pronouns change | I → he / she, we → they, my → his / her, our → their |
| verbs move back | am / is → was, are → were, can → could, will → would, have → had |
Examples
- “I can swim,” said Tom. → Tom said that he could swim.
- “Is it raining?” asked Dad. → Dad asked if it was raining.
Key words
- direct speech
- the speaker’s exact words
- reported speech
- tells what was said without the exact words
- pronoun
- takes the place of a noun: I, he, she, they
- backshift
- moving the verb back into the past
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 short news report about an event at school. Include three sentences of reported speech, then change one into direct speech.
Pupil target: I can change direct speech into reported 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 direct and reported speech PowerPoint.
Where this lesson fits
This is lesson 41 of 72 in the Year 6 SPaG scheme, in the Spring term, block “Apostrophes and speech”. It is taught before the SATs grammar test in May.
Other lessons in this block
- Apostrophes for missing letters
- Apostrophes for possession
- Apostrophes: putting it all together
- Punctuating direct speech
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