Speech marks
A short captioned lesson on how to write what people say, for older children. Free, with a full transcript and teaching notes.
Read the whole lesson
Speech marks When characters talk in a story, we use speech marks to show their exact words. Let us see how to set them out.
" " around the words Speech marks look like a pair of small raised commas. They go around the words that are actually spoken, and nothing else.
Ava said, "I love painting." Here is an example. Ava said, speech mark, I love painting, speech mark. Only the words I love painting are inside the marks.
Punctuation goes inside Notice the punctuation. The full stop, comma, question mark or exclamation mark goes inside the speech marks. I love painting, full stop, inside.
"I love painting," said Ava. If the speech comes first, use a comma, then the speech marks, then she said. I love painting, said Ava. Note the small s in said.
"Can I help?" asked Kofi. Questions and shouts keep their marks. Can I help, asked Kofi. Look out, shouted Leo. The question mark and the exclamation mark stay inside.
New speaker, new line Start a new line every time a new person speaks. That makes it easy for readers to see who is talking, and it keeps your story clear.
Write a conversation Well done! Try writing a short conversation between two characters. Use speech marks, and check where each punctuation mark sits.
For grown-ups Teaching notes
- Speech marks (inverted commas) go around the exact words someone says. The punctuation that belongs to the speech goes inside them.
- Each new speaker begins a new line, which links neatly to paragraphs.
- Reporting clauses (she said, he asked) follow a comma, question mark or exclamation mark inside the speech marks, and the next word starts with a small letter.
- Practise with comic strips: copy the speech bubbles into sentences with speech marks.
Tip: pause the video after each picture, ask the child to say the answer, then press play.