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Direct Speech
What is direct speech.
Direct speech is a sentence where the exact words spoken by somebody are recorded in inverted commas (also known as speech marks). Inverted commas are used to show which written words are spoken by the character and other punctuation is used to help the reader understand when each character starts and stops speaking. Usually, the spoken words are accompanied by a reporting clause which contains a speech verb and reveals the identity of the speaker.
How to punctuate direct speech
To punctuate direct speech, follow these simple rules:
Start a new line for each new speaker. This helps the reader to keep track of who is speaking.
Add a pair of inverted commas around the words spoken by the character. The first pair of inverted commas should go before the first spoken word and the second pair should go after the punctuation which follows the last spoken word.
Begin the spoken words with a capital letter.
Add closing punctuation to follow the last spoken word. This could be a comma, full stop, exclamation mark, question mark or even an ellipsis if the character's thoughts trail off.
Use a comma to separate the direct speech and reporting clause.
Our KS2 English Journey scheme based on the beautifully illustrated book by Aaron Becker, is a fantastic way to introduce children to direct speech punctuation.
Children tend to find rules three and four the most difficult so make sure you explicitly teach the following:
a. If the reporting clause comes before the spoken words , add a comma to separate the clause from the direct speech and a full stop within the inverted commas to indicate the end of the sentence. For example, Isa suggested, "Let's get a closer look."
b. If the reporting clause comes after the direct speech, add a comma (or other appropriate punctuation) within the inverted commas to indicate that the sentence continues and a full stop after the reporting clause to indicate the end of the sentence. For example, "Let's get a closer look," Isa suggested.
c. If the reporting clause comes in the middle of the direct speech, add a comma within the inverted commas for the first piece of speech, a comma after the reporting clause before the second piece of speech and a full stop following the reporting clause to indicate the end of the sentence. For example, "Let's get a closer look," Isa suggested, "I want to know where the tunnel leads."
When do we use direct speech?
Direct speech is used in narratives to reveal more about the thoughts, motivations and personalities of the characters, and to let new characters introduce themselves.
Using dialogue between characters is also a quick and engaging way to move on the plot of a story. For example, an instruction from a character is a useful plot device as it can prompt another character to act or move to another time or location (e.g. "Lock the door.","Go to the tower.", "Recover the diamond.").
Questions can let characters explain where they have been or what they have been doing offstage ("Why are you late?', "Where have you been?, "Why are you doing this?).
Statements can tell you more about a character's surroundings ("It's a beautiful day.", " That door wasn't there before.") or where they stand on a particular issue ("I don't agree.", "This is a risky plan.").
Inspire your children to write effective dialogue for an adventure story with our KS2 One Thousand and One Arabian Nights scheme.
Misconceptions when punctuating direct speech
Understanding and applying the rules for direct speech is no mean feat. Here are the top five misconceptions that children may have as they learn how to punctuate direct speech.
Children do not know to include punctuation inside the inverted commas.
Children do not know when to use a comma instead of a full stop inside the inverted commas.
Children incorrectly position inverted commas around the beginning and end of a full sentence rather than around the spoken words.
Children do not apply the new speaker, new line convention.
Children capitalise the first word in a reporting clause that comes in the middle or at the end of the speech sentence. This often accompanies a misuse of a full stop as closing punctuation inside the inverted commas.
Addressing these misconceptions needs careful and explicit teaching. Here are five top tips for teaching children how to punctuate direct speech in KS2.
Make sure to provide children with variety of examples which use different sentences structures.
Encourage children to find different speech sentences in their reading books and explore the similarities and differences between them.
Provide examples of incorrectly punctuated speech sentences and ask children to spot and correct the errors (identifying errors in given texts is so much less daunting than jumping straight into applying the rules within your own writing).
Give children focused editing time either as a discrete activity where children to add punctuation to unpunctuated text or where they spot and correct direct speech punctuation during independent writing.
Offer children the opportunity to read and perform their dialogue (as this can really help child get to grips with why punctuation is so important for the reader).
Teaching progression in direct speech - Year 3
Direct speech is introduced in the Year 3 English Curriculum. Here, children should be taught the correct terminology for 'inverted commas' and given opportunities to practise forming these correctly (during your regular handwriting sessions can work well). When children can identify and create inverted commas, they are ready to apply these to speech - adding opening and closing inverted commas around spoken words.
An engaging, hands-on activity to help children understand where to position the inverted commas in a speech sentence is to ask children to write speech sentences on whiteboards and add macaroni around the spoken words to represent the opening and closing inverted commas. This activity can be extended to include speech and a reporting clause to consolidate understanding and to address the misconception that inverted commmas are used at the beginning and end of the sentence, rather than at the beginning and end of the spoken words.
Introduce your children to direct speech with our magical Year 3 The Snowman scheme which provides children with the foundations for punctuating direct speech.
Teaching progression in direct speech - Year 4
In Year 4, the focus should be mastering all of the punctuation required to indicate direct speech. This includes the use of a comma to separate the reporting clause from the piece of speech as well as using punctuation within inverted commas: The conductor shouted, “Sit down!”. Children will need plenty of modelled examples as to when to use the different punctuation marks inside inverted commas to get to grips with when to use a comma, full stop and other punctuation.
By the end of Year 4, children should be able to choose more precise speech verbs for their reporting clause, using verbs such as growled, snarled, whispered, mumbled to let the reader know more about the speaker's personality or mood.
One way to help chidren understand the rules of punctuating direct speech is to use a text message template to show an exchange of dialogue between characters. This helps children understand that the speech for each character starts on a new line. It is also helpful for reinforcing the learning point from Year 3, that only the spoken words should be included within the opening and closing inverted commas. Children can use the speech given in the model as the basis for writing their own dialogue between the two characters, constructing their own reporting clauses using appropriate speech verbs and adverbs.
Why not use the our KS2 English Journey scheme or our Text to Speech FreeBee to give children an opportunity to practise using direct speech in their writing?
Teaching progression in direct speech - Year 5
In Year 5, children should be able to vary the structure of their speech sentences, positioning the reporting clause at the beginning, in the middle or at the end of the spoken words. Here, children should consider the impact of these choices on pace and intensity. Children should be taught that the reporting clause can reveal a lot about how the words are spoken and the character of the speaker and start to experiment with adding additional clauses to add further contextual detail.
As children become more proficient with the direct speech punctuation and sentence structure, the focus of teaching should shift to encouraging children to write coherent and effective dialogue which conveys character and/or advances the action of the story.
Teaching progression in direct speech - Year 6
By Year 6, children should be able to vary the structure of their speech sentences and extend these to provide the reader with extra details about the speaker or their environment. Children should continue to write dialogue which conveys character and/or advances the action of the story,. The focus of teaching should shift to ensure that the children can integrate dialogue well into their narratives and that they know how to strike a balance between dialogue and description to produce an enjoyable or gripping experience for the reader.
In additon, children should also be taught how and when to use the structures associated with formal and informal speech to help set the tone of their piece or to contextualise their writing within a certain time period. To do this, use texts which allow you to explore a variety of speech conventions used by different characters such as those by Arthur Conan Doyale (e.g. Sherlock Holmes) or Charles Dickens (e.g. Scrooge, the Artful Dodger).
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What are direct and indirect speech?
![Speech marks Speech marks](https://www.theschoolrun.com/sites/theschoolrun.com/files/styles/188x148/public/article_images/speech_marks.jpg.webp?itok=xsxq_oOV)
Contents: Direct speech explanation Indirect speech explanation When do children learn about direct speech? When do children learn about indirect speech? Examples of questions your child may be asked FAQS
What is direct speech?
Direct speech is a sentence in which the exact words spoken are reproduced in speech marks (also known as quotation marks or inverted commas). For example:
![](http://mangareview.fun/777/templates/cheerup/res/banner1.gif)
What is indirect speech?
Indirect speech is when the general points of what someone has said are reported, without actually writing the speech out in full. It is sometimes called reported speech. For example:
![reported and direct speech ks2 Punctuation](https://www.theschoolrun.com/sites/theschoolrun.com/files/inline-images/teach_your_child_punctuation_0.webp)
When do children learn about direct speech?
Teachers will start to teach children how to set out direct speech in Year 3 . The general rules of direct speech are:
- Each new character's speech starts on a new line.
- Speech is opened with speech marks.
- Each line of speech starts with a capital.
- The line of speech ends with a comma, exclamation mark or question mark.
- A reporting clause is used at the end ( said Jane, shouted Paul, replied Mum).
- A full stop goes after the reporting clause.
- If the direct speech in the sentence is broken up by information about who is speaking, add in a comma or question mark or exclamation mark to end the first piece of speech and a full stop or another comma before the second piece (before the speech marks), for example: "It's lovely," she sighed, "but I can't afford it right now." / "I agree!" said Kate. "Let's go!"
![reported and direct speech ks2 Literacy Glossary](https://www.theschoolrun.com/sites/theschoolrun.com/files/inline-images/glossary_literacy-1_0.webp)
When do children learn about indirect speech?
In Year 5, children may be taught a literacy unit that guides them in writing a newspaper article including the use of indirect (or reported) speech. In Year 6, children may be encouraged to use indirect speech when writing a biography or practising further journalistic writing. When changing direct speech into indirect speech, changes have to be made to a sentence. For example:
- Verb tenses usually shift back a tense (into the past)
- Word order often needs to change
- Pronouns often need to change
- Words indicating place and time need to change
By Year 6 children should be setting out speech and punctuating it correctly in their stories. In fiction indirect speech can sometimes be helpful if a character in a story wants to recount a conversation they have had in the past. For direct and indirect speech worksheets and activities to help your child put the theory into practice look through our punctuation worksheets.
Examples of questions your child may be asked at school
Here are some examples of questions about direct and indirect speech that primary school children may be asked:
Direct speech:
- "What did Sarah say when she found the lost puppy?"
- "Can you write down exactly what Tom shouted when he scored the winning goal?"
- "How would you quote what Mom said when she saw the messy room?"
Indirect speech:
- "Can you tell me what Sarah said when she found the lost puppy?"
- "Could you write what Tom shouted when he scored the winning goal without using his exact words?"
- "What did Mom say when she saw the messy room? Can you rewrite it using indirect speech?"
FAQs about direct and indirect speech
Here are five frequently asked questions (FAQs) about direct and indirect speech:
Q: What is direct speech?
A: Direct speech is when you quote someone's exact words within quotation marks. For example, "I love chocolate," said Sarah.
Q: What is indirect speech?
A: Indirect speech is when you report what someone said without quoting their exact words. It often involves changing the tense, pronouns, and other details. For example, Sarah said that she loved chocolate.
Q: How do you punctuate direct speech?
A: Direct speech is typically enclosed in quotation marks and followed by a comma or a punctuation mark within the quotation marks. For example, "I'm going to the park," said Tom.
Q: When do we use direct speech?
A: Direct speech is used when you want to convey someone's exact words, often to add authenticity or to quote someone in writing or dialogue.
Q: How do you change direct speech to indirect speech?
A: To change direct speech to indirect speech, you often need to adjust the tense, pronouns, and other details to make it grammatically correct within the context of the reporting sentence. For example, "I'll see you tomorrow," said John (direct speech) can be changed to John said that he would see me the next day (indirect speech).
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Who said what? – direct and reported speech
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A worksheet on direct and reported speech for upper KS2. Includes sample text for children to rewrite: e.g. some text of reported speech to be rewritten as directed speech and some text of direct speech to be rewritten as reported speech. Includes examples to help guide children.
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Lesson details
Key learning points.
- In this lesson, we will explore the differences between direct and reported speech. We will identify the main features and practise writing and punctuating our own speech sentences.
This content is made available by Oak National Academy Limited and its partners and licensed under Oak’s terms & conditions (Collection 1), except where otherwise stated.
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English- Direct and indirect speech- Journalistic Writing KS2
Subject: English
Age range: 7-11
Resource type: Lesson (complete)
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Last updated
12 September 2022
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In this lesson students will learn the difference between direct and indirect speech. They will identify this in a newspaper report and write their own version of a newspaper report using both versions of speech.
This lesson is one of a block of lessons on journalistic writing. To view these please visit: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-12170817
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English- Journalistic Writing BUNDLE of lessons KS2
Journalistic writing is the style of writing used to report news stories in newspapers, television broadcasts, on radio and on the Internet. This bundle includes lessons on: - Forms of news - Features of newspaper articles - Direct and reported speech in newspaper reports - Identifying bias - Writing a newspaper report All lessons have included presentations, lesson plans and resources! A great bundle deal! Leave a review for this resource and send a copy of your receipt to [email protected] to receive a FREE single resource of your choice!
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Direct and Reported Speech worksheets with optional powerpoint. This set of worksheets introduces the rules for direct and reported speech and gives exercises of converting dialogues each way. They are roughly graded from 1 (suitable for less advanced learners) to 7 (for the more advanced group). In a one-off lesson, you might want each child ...
Direct speech involves exact words spoken that use speech marks in a sentence. Whereas reported speech, also known as indirect speech, is when something someone has said is summed up without writing the speech out fully. While on the subject of direct speech, it might be worth brushing up on your knowledge of using speech marks. This Speech Mark Worksheet Set is a great way to help your class ...
Introduce direct and reported speech to your KS2 class using this excellent PowerPoint. It includes definitions, examples and lots of information that your KS2 class can learn from when using direct and reported speech in their writing. Great for supporting children with their sentence structure!
Direct speech 'I'm going to buy some milk.' Reported speech. He told me he was going to buy some milk. Direct speech 'Please help me unpack the shopping' Reported speech. She asked me to help unpack the shopping. Tenses. In reported speech, the present simple tense usually changes to the past simple. Present simple: 'I go to the gym a lot ...
JPG, 144 KB. pdf, 238.24 KB. Direct and Reported Speech. This KS2 English resource explains how and when to use direct and reported speech in written work. Content includes: Editable PowerPoint teaching resource. Activities to support the teaching of this objective with 2 accompanying worksheets. 'Direct and Reported Speech - KS2' is fully ...
In this fun and engaging direct and indirect speech activity pack, you'll find a PowerPoint and worksheet. First, share the included The Differences Between Direct and Indirect Speech PowerPoint with your class, stopping when needed to discuss this more together and think of examples of the different kinds of speech. Once you've completed the PowerPoint, your children will be ready to have ...
In this lesson, we will explore the differences between direct and reported speech. We will identify the main features and practise writing and punctuating our own speech sentences. Licence. This content is made available by Oak National Academy Limited and its partners and licensed under Oak's terms & conditions ...
A written task to help children understand the difference between direct and reported speech. Children look at an example of each and analyse their features. They then rewrite reported speech as direct speech in a sentence, and vice versa. A useful resource for sharpening dialogue writing skills in KS2. 88.5 KB. Download. 46.79 KB. Free download.
Direct speech and indirect speech - 9 of the best resources and worksheets for KS2 SPaG. Help children know when and how to use speech marks in direct speech, and why not to use them in indirect speech, with these lessons, activities, worksheets and more for Key Stage 2 grammar…. by Teachwire.
pdf, 603.77 KB. Three differentiated resources that focus on direct speech and being able to punctuate it accurately. These sheets are made with mastery in mind, taking elements of the mastery approach to Maths and applying these to English. Each sheet tells children what they need to do as well as having answers available.
Use a comma to separate the direct speech and reporting clause. Our KS2 English Journey scheme based on the beautifully illustrated book by Aaron Becker, is a fantastic way to introduce children to direct speech punctuation. Children tend to find rules three and four the most difficult so make sure you explicitly teach the following: a.
Direct speech can be spoken in a character's voice whereas reported speech is the writer or speaker repeating the words of someone else. The simple presence of inverted commas and a reporting clause is enough to reveal that the speech is direct. If speech is indirect, it does not require inverted commas whereas direct speech always does.
Direct speech - the term used for a character speaking out loud in a text. Inverted commas - a pair of punctuation marks that signal direct speech to the reader. Signal - show or direct attention to. Ensure that you use the same graphics for speech punctuation (as shown in the slides) consistently in all grammar and writing lessons to support ...
When changing direct speech into indirect speech, changes have to be made to a sentence. For example: Verb tenses usually shift back a tense (into the past) Word order often needs to change. Pronouns often need to change. Words indicating place and time need to change. By Year 6 children should be setting out speech and punctuating it correctly ...
Introduce direct and reported speech to your KS2 class using this excellent PowerPoint. It includes definitions, examples and lots of information that your KS2 class can learn from when using direct and reported speech in their writing. Great for supporting children with their sentence structure!
docx, 16.32 KB. pptx, 68.69 KB. A lesson on reported speech and direct quotations in newspapers. The starter asks pupils to consider the difference between a sentence with reported speech, and a sentence with direct quotation. After a few simple translations from direct speech to reported (and vice versa), pupils can watch a youtube video of a ...
Explore more than 177 "Direct And Reported Speech" resources for teachers, parents and pupils as well as related resources on "Reported And Direct Speech". Instant access to inspirational lesson plans, schemes of work, assessment, interactive activities, resource packs, PowerPoints, teaching ideas at Twinkl!
Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has issued an order for Iran to strike Israel directly, in retaliation for the killing in Tehran of Hamas's leader, Ismail Haniyeh, according to ...
Resource type. Student activity. A worksheet on direct and reported speech for upper KS2. Includes sample text for children to rewrite: e.g. some text of reported speech to be rewritten as directed speech and some text of direct speech to be rewritten as reported speech. Includes examples to help guide children. 32.5 KB.
In this lesson, we will explore the differences between direct and reported speech. We will identify the main features and practise writing and punctuating our own speech sentences. Licence. This content is made available by Oak National Academy Limited and its partners and licensed under Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 1), except where ...
Vice President Kamala Harris spoke at a Black sorority gathering in Houston after the former president's comments questioning her racial identity.
English- Journalistic Writing BUNDLE of lessons KS2. Journalistic writing is the style of writing used to report news stories in newspapers, television broadcasts, on radio and on the Internet. ... - Forms of news - Features of newspaper articles - Direct and reported speech in newspaper reports - Identifying bias - Writing a newspaper report ...
Former president Donald Trump described his domestic opponents as "vermin" that posed a greater threat to the United States than countries such as Russia, China or North Korea, drawing rebuke ...