direct speech punctuation

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English lessons and resources

Direct speech writing rules in English

7th January 2019 by Andrew

In the above picture, Mark is talking to Jane. The words inside the blue box are the exact words that he speaks.

Here is how we express this:

This is direct speech. Direct speech is when we report the exact words that somebody says.

In this English lesson, you will learn:

• The rules for writing direct speech.
• The correct punctuation.
• Vocabulary to report direct speech.

Reporting clause before the direct speech

The reporting clause of direct speech is the short clause that indicates who is talking. It is the clause that is outside of the inverted commas. It is therefore not the words being spoken.

We can write the reporting clause either before or after the direct speech. If the reporting clause is before the direct speech, we write it as follows:

Grammar rules – If the reporting clause is before the direct speech:

We write a comma (,) before the direct speech. We write the exact words inside the inverted commas. The first letter is a capital letter. We write a full stop (.) before the closing inverted commas.

Reporting clause before a question or exclamation

If the reporting clause is before a question or exclamation:

We write a comma (,) before the direct speech. We write the exact words inside the inverted commas. The first letter is a capital letter. We write a question mark (?) before the closing inverted commas. or We write an exclamation mark (!) before the closing inverted commas.

Reporting clause after the direct speech

If the reporting clause is after the direct speech:

We write the exact words inside the inverted commas. The first letter is a capital letter. We write a comma (,) before the closing inverted commas. We write a full stop (.) at the end of the reporting clause.

Reporting clause after a question or exclamation

If the reporting clause is after a question or exclamation:

We write the exact words inside the inverted commas. The first letter is a capital letter. We write a question mark (?) before the closing inverted commas. or We write an exclamation mark (!) before the closing inverted commas. We write a full stop (.) at the end of the reporting clause.

Advanced rules for direct speech

Sometimes we break up the direct speech into 2 parts:

The second part of the direct speech starts with a small letter if it is the same sentence as the first part of the direct speech.

The second part of the direct speech starts with a capital letter if it is a new sentence.

Vocabulary of direct speech

We have several names for the above punctuation marks:

Inverted commas Speech marks Quotation marks Quotes

Other reporting verbs

Here are some other useful reporting verbs:

reply (replied) ask (asked) shout (shouted) agree (agreed) comment (commented) admit (admitted)

They are often used for writing direct speech in books, newspapers and reports. It is more common to use them in reporting clauses after the direct speech.

“I really don’t like her dress,” she commented . “I don’t love you anymore,” he admitted .

Other English lessons

Private online English lessons How to pass the IELTS with a band 8 Adverbs of frequency Indefinite article “a” and “an” The prepositions FOR and SINCE All of our lessons

Direct speech video lesson

Reader Interactions

Matěj Formánek says

3rd November 2019 at 5:54 pm

How about this sentence: I know the satnav is wrong!” exclaimed Zena. – Why the subject and predicate are swapped? It’s sentence from textbook so I’m confused.

17th June 2020 at 4:07 pm

Can we write multiple sentences in direct speech that comes before reporting clause? In case if this is allowed, what punctuation mark should be used after the last sentence?

Example: “I entered the class room. As I did not find anybody there, I left the class room and went to buy a coffee.” explained the student to the teacher for his delay to come to the class.

Should the punctuation mark after the word coffee be comma instead of full stop?

Joaquim Barretto says

14th September 2020 at 1:25 pm

No full stop, but comma after the word coffee.

19th January 2021 at 2:34 pm

HI IM DAISY

courtney says

27th January 2021 at 12:07 pm

Clare Hatcher says

12th March 2021 at 9:55 am

Hello I like the layout of this – very clear. Just wondering if it is correct to use a comma in between two separate sentences in direct speech. I think that now in published material you find this instead. ‘I’m tired,’ she said. ‘Let’s stay at home.’ Would appreciate your thoughts Thanks

27th March 2021 at 8:54 am

If I wrote something with a comma at the end to continue speech like this:

“Hello,” he waved to the new student, “what’s you’re name?”

Do I have to use a capital letter even if I’m continuing with a comma or is it lowercase?

Sylvia Edouard says

30th September 2023 at 9:17 am

Yes, you need to use a capital letter as speech from someone has to start with a capital letter. Always.

15th April 2022 at 12:12 pm

which of the following is correct?

1. Should the status go missing when the metadata states, “Sign & return document?”

2. Should the status go missing when the metadata states, “Sign & return document,”? (comma inside)

3. Should the status go missing when the metadata states, “Sign & return document.”? (full stop inside)

Jan Švanda says

7th September 2023 at 1:31 pm

I presume the quotation is there to specify the exact phrase (for the metadata entry). I also encounter this from time to time, when writing technical documentation. I believe in that case you should write the phrase as it is, proper grammar be damned; beautifully looking documentation is useless if it leads to incorrect results.

In this case, I don’t even think this is “direct speech”, the metadata entry isn’t walking around and saying things, the quotation mark is there to indicate precise phrase – similar to marking strings in programming languages. Because of this, I don’t think direct speech rules apply, or at least, they should take back seat. If the expected status includes full stop at the end, the sentence would be:

4. Should the status go missing when the metadata states “Sign & return document.”? (no comma before, since it is not a direct speech; full stop inside, as it is part of the quoted status)

From grammatical perspective the end looks a bit ugly, but again, if this should be technical documentation, that is less important than precision.

A person says

15th August 2022 at 7:16 pm

One extra thing: YOU MUST NOT USE THE WORD SAID IN A REPORTING CLAUSE. EVER. IT’S UNIMAGINATIVE.

no joke, it’s actually discouraged and even close to banned at my school

7th September 2023 at 1:49 pm

This is stupid. You shouldn’t use it in _every_ sentence, there should be variety, but outright banning it doesn’t make sense.

Case in point:

Book: ‘Pride and Prejudice’. Phrase to search: ‘,” said’ (comma, followed by quotation mark, followed by space, followed by word ‘said’). Number of occurrences: 211. Total number of ‘,”‘ (comma, followed by quotation mark) strings is 436, so “said” is used in almost 50% cases of direct speech of this type.

I don’t think it would be right for your school to ban Jane Austin, do you?

blaire says

30th March 2024 at 5:36 pm

How do you use names in direct speech?

Is it: “I really don’t like her dress,” Ashley said. or “I really don’t like her dress,” said Ashley.

I’ve seen both and I’m so confused which one is correct, please help me.

Andrew says

3rd April 2024 at 11:31 am

Hello and thanks for your comment and question.

After the direct speech, both are correct.

Before the direct speech, only the first one is correct:

Ashley said, “I really don’t like her dress.” (correct) Said Ashley, “I really don’t like her dress.” (wrong)

I hope that helps you. Andrew https://www.youtube.com/@CrownAcademyEnglish/

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How to Punctuate Dialogue – Rules & Examples

| Danielle McLeod

| Punctuation

Danielle McLeod

Danielle McLeod is a highly qualified secondary English Language Arts Instructor who brings a diverse educational background to her classroom. With degrees in science, English, and literacy, she has worked to create cross-curricular materials to bridge learning gaps and help students focus on effective writing and speech techniques. Currently working as a dual credit technical writing instructor at a Career and Technical Education Center, her curriculum development surrounds student focus on effective communication for future career choices.

I’m an avid reader, and I never think twice about the punctuation that makes dialog so easy to read, allowing you to flow from one conversation to the next. With so much exposure to the technique, you’d think it would be easy to reproduce – but nothing could be further from the truth.

Punctuating dialogue properly eludes even the most voracious reader. And, it’s truly no surprise since you must remember more than one rule concerning quotations, terminal marks, and comma use when all mashed together.

Knowing how to punctuate dialogue correctly is important to help develop your characters and make them more interesting to your reader. Take a look at our dialog writing tips to help you develop your storyline for a more exciting read.

The Importance of Well-Written Dialog

Writers depend upon dialog to help bring their characters to life and allow readers to form relationships with the story they are immersed in. Good dialog punctuation helps create flow and clarity, lends tone to the sentences being spoken, and creates connections between characters and the overall storyline.

Poorly constructed sentences that feel wooden and stiff are common mistakes writers make when new to the technique. But, with practice and knowledge of strong dialog sentence structure, it doesn’t take long for them to become more confident writers.

The Rules of Dialog Writing

To avoid errors in dialogue punctuation, you must keep some precise rules in mind.

A good story uses direct and indirect dialogue between characters and dialogue with narration to enhance the storyline. This creates lines of text that can quickly become confusing when punctuation or grammar is ignored or, worse yet – used incorrectly.

Review these ten rules for punctuating dialogue to help create captivating dialogue that draws your reader into an original storyline.

Rule #1: Direct Speech Requires Double Quotation Marks

If you are in the US, you use the double closing quotation marks to indicate spoken, direct dialogue. This is the first step in punctuating dialogue correctly.

For example:

• “Mom, Sanna and I only went to the store, and we came right back!” exclaimed Sarah.
• Maxine wasn’t so sure, asking, “If I spoke to Mr. Hooper, would he tell me he saw you there?”

British or Commonwealth English uses a single quotation mark, but both styles indicate the same thing.

This article focuses on the American English standard widely accepted by the Chicago Style Manual to avoid confusion.

Rule #2: Periods (and Other End Marks) Belong Inside Quotation Mark

Misplaced periods and other end marks are common mistakes when writing dialogue. Complete spoken sentences should always end with the end mark inside the quotation marks.

• She reviewed the essay, stating, “You’ll need to proofread for corrections.”
• She watched the light turn green and, glancing sideways, said, “What if we kept driving and just didn’t stop?”

Rule #3: Comma Placement is Dictated by Speaker Attribution

The majority of written dialogue is attributed to a speaker using dialogue tags. This helps a reader keep track of who is speaking, especially when back-and-forth dialog is used between two or more characters.

An attribute is a simple way to give credit to a speaker. These can be as simple as she said or he replied . They can also be more detailed, providing tone or behavioral hints, such as she rolled her eyes, leaned forward, and whispered .

When the attribute comes before the dialogue, place the comma outside the quotation marks.

• She exclaimed, “There is no way I will be involved with that plan.”
• He wasn’t impressed, looked her in the eyes, and stated, “You promised to take part in this all.”

When the attribute comes after dialogue, you place the comma inside the quotation marks.

• “I’m heading to the store,” Sarah told her mother.
• “Go straight there and back,” was the reply.

Rule #4: Always Begin New Sentences with a Capitalization

Dialogue dictates that new sentences always begin with capitalization, even when following an attribute. This may be slightly different than other rules of quotation use, but it is important to help highlight the speech of your characters.

• She turned to him smiling and spoke her thoughts aloud, “If I were to leave, what would you do?”

Do not capitalize dialog that follows an interrupting attribute.

• He smiled back, “I’d follow you,” he replied, “anywhere you go.”

Rule #5: Start a New Paragraph Each Time the Speaker Changes

One of the most important rules of organizing dialogue is to begin a new paragraph each time the speaker changes. This provides a visual of who is speaking and is especially important to avoid the overuse of attributes during back-and-forth dialogue.

To indicate a new paragraph, leave a space between each line.

“Why are you here so early?” asked the teacher, looking down on the little blond head riddled with cowlicks.

The student looked up at her, blinking, “I need to study for my test today, and our power was out at the house.”

“Oh no! Of course, you can study here. I was just going to make some coffee. Would you like some cocoa to help get focused?”

“Yes. Thank you!”

“No problem. You can study early anytime you need to. I’m almost always here by this time.” She walked into the lounge, shaking her head, knowing he wasn’t the only student that needed a warm, lighted place to start the day in.

Rule #6: Use Action Beats to Replace Dialogue Tags

Dialogue tags can become very monotonous in their use and take away from the tone of what is being said when overused. Consider using action beats that describe what the character is doing while they are speaking to help add detail and action to your dialogue.

Dialogue punctuation rules stay the same with action beats.

“Hmmmmm.” He rubbed his chin and glanced at the clock. “I’m just as confused as you are, but at the moment, I don’t have time to think about it.” He stood up, ushering the children towards the door. “Come back tomorrow when we can discuss this further.”

“But, tomorrow will be too late!” The children turned away from the door. “By then, she could be gone altogether!”

Rule #7: Avoid Closing Quotations Between Paragraphs of Speech

When a character speaks more than a few sentences in a row, you can split their extended speech up into multiple individual paragraphs. When you do this, you indicate to the reader the speech is not over by omitting the closing punctuation marks.

Still provide open quotation marks at the start of the new paragraph.

“It wasn’t difficult for me to find out what you all had been up to last night.” His mother looked them over, “I had the porch camera on, and it triggered the garage light. When I saw that come on, I knew somebody had to be coming in through the back to avoid waking me up. What you didn’t know was I was already awake.

“Although I didn’t say anything at the time, I checked with Mark’s mother this morning, and she let me know he had told her he was staying over here.” She wasn’t happy, and he knew he was in for it.

She continued on, “You told me you were staying at Mark’s house. So, of course, I wanted to know what you both were hiding from us.

“When I saw that you had the cellar door cracked open, I knew where you had to be keeping her.” She paused, “James, I told you we couldn’t afford to feed another dog, and now she’s down there with her puppies. What did you do that night? Go out to the tracks and carry them all back here thinking I would never notice?”

He nodded, “But, mom…” and looked up at her, “they would have died if we left them out there.”

Rule #8: Use Em-Dashes and Ellipses to Interrupt Speech

If you need to indicate an interruption in dialogue due to being cut off or a pause in speech, then you will use an em-dash or ellipses within the quotation marks.

“I know you care a lot about him, but — “

She interrupted, “You don’t understand that he’s just a friend!”

“— you aren’t going to camp with him this summer.” Her father finished.

“Listen, I just need to know what is going on…” she looked at her beseechingly.

Jen sighed, “I’ll explain it all one day. I just can’t right now.”

Rule #9: Use Single Quotes When Your Character is Quoting Someone or Something

If you are wondering how to use quotation marks within the dialogue to indicate a character directly quoting another, you need to use single quotation marks. A dialogue with quotes within it specifically highlights the thoughts or words of another person. 

“Tell me what the professor said was going to be on the test again.”

“He said the test would last 2 hours and to ‘read through the first two chapters, review all the vocabulary, and be able to explain the photosynthesis process.’”

Rule #10: Use Italics for Thoughts and Internal Monologues

Avoid using quotations for internal dialogue and monologues. Although, as an author, you can take artistic license and choose to use quotations, it is generally accepted to use italics in this manner if your text also includes spoken dialogue to avoid confusing the two. Just be sure to be consistent with their use.

The kitten sat at the window, eyes big and begging to be let inside.

Kimberly knew her mother would be mad, but, What she doesn’t find out won’t kill her , she thought as she opened the window.

Let’s Review

Writing dialog punctuation isn’t as tricky as it may seem at first as long as you follow these dialogue example rules. End marks, commas, and quotation marks in a dialog should be kept consistent in their use to provide clarity and flow to written conversation.

Always enclose dialog in double quotation marks, using single quotation marks to indicate a quote spoken by a character. End parks belong inside the quotations, while comma placement is determined by speaker attribution.

Grammarist is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. When you buy via the links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission at no cost to you.

2024 © Grammarist, a Found First Marketing company. All rights reserved.

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• Punctuation /

Direct Speech Punctuation: Learn Rules of Usage with Examples

• Updated on  
• Jul 2, 2024

Direct speech punctuation is used in reported speech to separate spoken words or dialogue from the rest of the sentence. Some of the common symbols used to punctuate direct speech are commas, inverted commas, exclamation marks and many more. Keep reading this blog hereon to know all about the reported speech punctuations and how they can be used with specific without committing any grammatical error. 

This Blog Includes:

What is direct speech punctuation, list of direct speech punctuation and examples, using commas in direct speech , using question mark punctuation in direct speech, use of exclamation mark as direct speech punctuation, exercises on direct speech punctuation.

Learn All About Punctuation Here!

When using direct speech punctuation in your writing, one can more clearly convey what someone said. To distinguish spoken words from the surrounding text, it employs a combination of quotation marks, capitalization, and commas.

Here is a list of direct speech punctuation marks with their examples. 

Rules of Using Direct Speech Punctuation Marks with Examples

Take a look at the rules for using direct speech punctuation marks along with the examples to get a better understanding. 

Commas are key players in punctuating direct speech, they help in clarifying who’s saying what. Here are examples of how commas work through examples:

Comma after the Introductory Clause:

This is the most common scenario. When you introduce who’s speaking before their words, use a comma to separate them.

Example: “I’m going for a walk,” she said.

Comma before the Closing Quotation Mark:

If you introduce the speaker after their words, put a comma before the closing quotation mark.

Example: “I’m going to the store,” said my sister.

Double Commas with Interruptions:

If you interrupt the quoted speech with an attribution (who’s speaking), use a comma after the first part of the speech, another comma after the attribution, and then continue the quotation marks.

Example: “Wait a minute,” she interjected, “did you forget something?”

Commas and Question/Exclamation Marks:

Generally, you don’t need a comma after the quoted speech if it ends with a question mark or exclamation mark since the punctuation already indicates a pause. But, if the introductory clause comes first, the comma goes before the closing quotation mark (even with a question or exclamation mark).

Example: “Are you sure?” she asked. 

Also Read: What is the Use of Commas (,): Meaning, Rules, & Examples 

Question marks are indeed used in direct speech to indicate an interrogative sentence. Here’s how they work:

Direct Questions:  

Whenever someone asks a question in quoted speech, you use a question mark within the quotation marks, regardless of the sentence structure around it.

• Example: “Where are you going?” he asked.
• Example: “Have you seen my keys?” she wondered.

Question Mark with Attribution:  

If you introduce the speaker with a phrase before their question, the question mark remains inside the quotation marks, and a comma separates the introductory phrase. Example: Confused, he asked, “What’s going on here?”

Also Read: Question Mark Punctuation (?): Definition, Usage, and Examples

Exclamation marks are just as important as commas and question marks when it comes to punctuating reported speech. Here’s how they function:

Exclamations in Speech:  

Just like with questions, use an exclamation mark inside the quotation marks when the spoken words themselves express strong emotion or surprise.

• Example: “Look out!” she screamed.
• Example: “I won the lottery!” he exclaimed.

Exclamation Mark with Attribution: 

Similar to questions, if you introduce the speaker with a phrase before the exclamation, the exclamation mark stays within the quotation marks, separated by a comma from the introductory phrase. Example: Surprised, she shouted, “Get out of here!”

Also Read: 20+ Exclamation Mark examples in Sentences with Usage  

If the direct speech is at the beginning of the sentence then you must put a comma before the final quotation mark. 

Direct speech is a sentence where the exact words are put in speech marks also known as quotation marks.

Direct speech is surrounded by quotation marks. Indirect speech, on the other hand, is not surrounded by speech marks and is just written within the text. 

Related Reads

This was all about direct speech punctuation, its rules, examples and related information. Hope you understand the concept and know how to proceed. You can also follow the Learn English page of Leverage Edu for more exciting and informative blogs related to grammar. 

Malvika Chawla

Malvika is a content writer cum news freak who comes with a strong background in Journalism and has worked with renowned news websites such as News 9 and The Financial Express to name a few. When not writing, she can be found bringing life to the canvasses by painting on them.

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Ultimate English Grammar, Vocabulary, and Names Database

Direct Speech or Quoted Speech

Introduction to direct speech or quoted speech.

Direct Speech, also known as Quoted Speech, is a common grammatical construction used in both written and spoken language. This tutorial serves as a comprehensive guide to mastering this important literary device. Let's start by understanding what direct speech is.

Table of Contents

Understanding Direct Speech

Direct speech refers to the exact wording of someone's comments or speech as it was spoken. In written text, direct speech usually appears in quotation marks or inverted commas to denote that the words were spoken or written by another person. The actual text of direct speech punctuated with a speech tag, which identifies the speaker and might provide additional context.

• John said, "I love playing football."

In this example, "I love playing football," is the direct speech, and "John said," is the speech tag.

Formatting Direct Speech

Following are some standard rules regarding the formatting and punctuating of direct speech:

Rule 1: Opening and Closing Quotation Marks

Always use opening and closing quotation marks to indicate the start and end of the direct speech portion of the sentence. These could be double (“ ”) or single (‘ ’) quotation marks, depending on the convention of the media or publication.

• "I am going home," said Maria.

Rule 2: Speech Tag Placement

The location of the speech tag can change, depending on the context and the intended effect. It can either be placed before, in between, or after the direct speech.

• She said, "I am tired."
• "I am," he said, "very hungry."
• "Let's go to the park," suggested Tim.

Rule 3: Capitalization and Punctuation

In direct speech, every new spoken line starts with a capital letter. Also, when the speech tag is at the end of the sentence, the quoted sentence should end with a comma, question mark, or exclamation mark but not with a period.

• John said, "Please pass the salt."
• "Where are we going?" asked Mary.
• "What a beautiful view!" exclaimed Susan.

Understanding the Speech Tag

The speech tag typically has two parts: the noun (or noun phrase) that refers to the speaker and the reporting verb (e.g., "said", "asked", "whispered") that characterizes the mode of speech. It's also possible to add adverbial modifiers to describe the manner of speech.

• "I can't wait to play the game," Tom said excitedly.

Overriding Rules in Direct Speech

While the rules mentioned above can guide you in punctuating most direct speeches correctly, some exceptions or overriding rules can alter punctuation and capitalization. Here are some examples:

Rule 1: Interrupted Speech

If the speech tag interrupts the direct speech, both parts of the speech would begin with a lowercase letter, assuming they form a single sentence.

• "I can't," she whispered, "stand to see him upset."

Rule 2: Consecutive Sentences

When a character speaks consecutive sentences, start the second one with a capital letter.

• "Please leave," she said. "I need to be alone."

Concluding Remarks

Mastering direct speech or quoted speech can enhance your writing skills tremendously, helping you write compelling dialogue and effectively integrate quotes in your work. By following the guidelines set in this tutorial, you'll be well on your way to using direct speech like a pro. Happy writing!

Practice Exercises:

• Rewrite the following sentences with appropriate use of quoted speech:
• Sam said that he was too tired to study.
• Jane thought that it was a splendid idea.
• He didn't know where she was going.
• Use direct speech to write a conversation between two characters about their weekend plans.

Related Posts:

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Lesson video

Hello and welcome, I'm Mrs Bailey.

This lesson is about varying your punctuation and dialogue tags when writing direct speech.

For today's lesson, you will need a pen and some paper, you will also need to make sure that your brain is switched on.

Before we begin, just take a moment to ensure that you have removed any potential distractions, for example, your mobile phone, you could turn your phone off or you could put sound silent and puts it away, perhaps in a drawer.

Before we start the main tasks, I'm just going to run you through what we are going to do, in the lesson today.

First of all, we are going to recap on last lessons learning.

We are going to remind ourselves of what we mean by direct speech.

Then we are going to look at how we can vary our end punctuation in direct speech.

We don't just have to use full stops before our close inverted commas.

We will then look at varying our dialogue tags for effect.

We will then look at how to move dialogue tags they don't always have to be at the start of a sentence.

And finally, you will do your exit quiz.

Fantastic, let's get started.

Recapping on direct speech.

Okay, which of the following contains direct speech? As in an extension task, you could think about how you know, how do you know and see if you can recall some of those rules from last lesson.

So which of the following contains direct speech? Is it A, Martha said not to worry about that.

B, Martha told me that I shouldn't worry or C, Martha said, "Don't worry." So pause the video now and write down the answer, A, B or C.

Well, absolutely fantastic if you said C well done.

We can see that Martha's exact words have been used in the sentence.

"Don't worry." Those were her exact words, and this is direct speech.

Let's remind ourselves of what direct speech is.

Direct speech is the reporting of by repeating the exact words of a character or speaker.

For example, Ben said, "I'm hungry." Because these are the exact words used by Ben, he actually said, "I'm hungry." We know that this is direct speech.

And because these are the exact words he used, the writer has put inverted commas around those words, "I'm hungry." Some people call these speech marks and that's absolutely fine.

I will be calling them inverted commas in our lessons.

In direct speech.

Indirect speech is when the speech of a character or speaker is reported, but their exact words are not used.

For example, Ben said that he was hungry.

Well, Ben didn't actually say the words he was hungry, so this is not direct speech, this is indirect speech.

And because of this, the writer has not used any inverted commas.

How do we punctuate direct speech, and what are the different parts can you remember? Let's read the sentence first, Martha said, "Don't worry." The first part, the bit that says Martha said, is what we call a dialogue tag the dialogue tags tells us who said it.

Well, Martha said it so I dialogue tag is Martha said.

After the dialogue tag, we put in a comma, the comma comes after the dialogue tag and before the open inverted commas.

As I said earlier, some people call these open speech marks, but we will call them open and inverted commas.

So dialogue tag, comma, open inverted commas what needs to come next? Well, the exact words that were said, the direct speech, don't worry, but do watch out for this next bit.

This is a bit that many, many people find really hard to remember.

Before we close the inverted commas, we must remember to put a punctuation mark in.

So we need a full stop and that full stop comes before, not after the inverted commas it's really important to remember that.

And so finally, yeah, that we put in the close inverted commas.

Okay students, it is checkpoint time.

Which of the following statements is incorrect, A, B or C.

So I'm going to read some statements to you and you have to think, is that correct or incorrect? And then I'll give you some time to write down your answer.

Is it A, if the sentence starts with a dialogue tag, you need to put a comma after it.

The comma comes before the open inverted commas.

So think about that, is that correct or is it incorrect? Now let's look at B, you do not need to include an end punctuation mark before you close the inverted commas.

So that is saying that you don't need to include a full stop before you close your inverted commas.

Do you think that is correct or incorrect? Now let's look at the third and final statement.

C says, you must include your end punctuation mark before you close your inverted commas.

So C and B is saying the opposite that, B you're saying that you don't need to put a full stop before inverted commas your final inverted commas, and C is saying that you have to do that.

So what I would like you to do, I would like you to pause your video, read each of those statements again, and tell me which one is wrong, which one is telling you the wrong information and write that letter down.

Absolutely fantastic if you wrote down B.

B is giving you false information by saying that you don't need to include a full stop before your close inverted commas that is giving you wrong information.

Varying your punctuation marks in direct speech.

As with any other sentence, you can vary your end punctuation.

When you are writing a sentence of direct speech.

What is end punctuation? I hear you say, well this is the punctuation that we put at the end of a graphical sentence so a full stop, a question mark, or an exclamation mark.

So we can vary our end punctuation, when we are ending a sentence of direct speech to, have a look at the example, Gary said, "Look, what you've done!" Notice that the writer has used an exclamation mark, instead of a full stop.

Notice also that this is placed, just before the close in inverted commas, just like you would do with a full stop.

So here the writer has used an exclamation to convey Gary's mood.

We can infer that Gary is feeling angry about something.

"Look what you've done!" Here's another example, here, the writer has used a rhetorical question to convey Kai's mood.

Kai said, "why me?" We can infer, that Kai is feeling sad or dejected.

Notice how the writer has put the question mark, just before the close inverted commas.

Okay, it's time for a task.

And each picture, somebody is saying something.

On your piece of paper for each picture, I would like you to write down who it was that says something, followed by what they said.

So I'd like you to number one to three and write out three separate sentences, the first one has been started for you.

Amira said comma, so what would you write next? I would like you to pause the video and complete this task now.

Fantastic students, very, very well done.

Does your work look like this? Have you followed the order of punctuation shown at the bottom of the slide? Pause the video and mark your work now.

And don't worry if you've made mistakes that's how we learn best by making mistakes and learning from them.

Pause the video and mark your work now.

Varying your dialogue tags for effect.

What is a dialogue tag? A dialogue tag is a group of words, that either introduce or follow direct speech.

Dialogue tags, identify who spoke and how they spoke.

For example, Tara muttered, "I am doing my work." The dialogue tag is Tara muttered.

The writer could have written, Tara said Tara said, it is a dialogue tag, but the writer has opted for something more descriptive, the writer's opted for a more descriptive verb said, doesn't really show as much about Tara's mood, but from muttered, we can infer that Tara is, feeling really annoyed or fed up about something.

So who spoke is Tara, how they spoke muttered.

So after you do a bit of a fun task, really, I would like you to change the verbs in the dialogue tags below, to show us how the characters is speaking.

Try to convey the mood and meaning that has been indicated in the brackets.

Let me give you an example, so Tara said, "I am trying to concentrate." I've been told that I need to show that Tara is feeling irritated so I have rewritten the sentence with the new dialogue tag.

I've changed the verb from said to snapped to show that she is irritated.

I would like you to pause the video and to complete this task now.

Fantastic students, I hope you had lots of fun with that.

Now, as this was a creative task, there are many, many possible analysis so please don't worry, if you don't see your answer on the screen.

It's very likely that the words you have chosen are far better than mine.

So for excited, I have chosen exclaimed, Amir exclaimed, "I'd love to go ice skating!" For panicking I've chosen whimpered, which implies that Simi is sort of sobbing and panicking.

And for trying to be quiet, I have chosen whispered.

Are you happy with your choices? I'm sure they are fantastic.

Well done for demonstrating your ability to vary your dialogue tags for a fact.

Okay, it's checkpoint time again.

Which each of the following is not an example of a dialogue tag? Now this is a bit tricky this one, pause your video, have a look and then think about that and write down your answer.

So the answer is C, Raphael tiptoed, is not an example of a dialogue tag.

Now don't worry if you didn't get that right, I'm going to explain it in a bit more detail.

Now, the reason for that, is that A, B and D could all work is dialogue tags, Nadia, exclaimed, "I love cheese," Tom shouted, "I love cheese," Sarah bellowed, "I love cheese." I don't know why Sarah would bellowed that sentence, shouting it out as a deep roar, but it works grammatically.

Raphael, however, can't tiptoe, "I love cheese." I'm just using I love cheese as an example of direct speech.

Tiptoeing is not a way of speaking.

That being said, I understand why you might have put D, as your answer or B, because these could work as sentences on their own, they don't have to be dialogue tags.

Tom shouted, and Sarah bellowed, could stand alone as separate sentences.

Okay, what I'd want you to do now is to complete the definition.

I would like you to copy and complete this sentence filling in the missing words.

Pause your video and write out the sentence filling in the missing words now.

Fantastic work students.

A dialogue tag is a group of words, that introduce or follow direct speech.

Dialogue tags identify who spoke and how they spoke.

Moving the dialogue tag.

Okay what happens, when we move the dialogue tag? What happens when we move the dialogue tag to the end of the sentence, how does that change things? Let's have a look at these two sentences she said, "I like beans." "I like beans," she said.

I guess we're going to play a bit of a game and spot the difference here.

I'd like you to pause the, and I'd like you to write down how these two sentences are different.

So what do you notice about the differences in the punctuation? So have a little look I would like you to press pause and to do that now, what is different about those two sentences? We are going to go through the answers now so don't worry if you found that difficult.

If you want to put your dialogue tag at the end of the sentence, so that it is following your line of direct speech, you need to remember the following rules.

So the first one is that you use a comma before the close inverted commas.

If your dialogue tag is at the end of the sentence, you use a comma before you close the inverted commas.

So you may have noticed that when you were looking at those two different sentences, shall we have a look? Okay so in the second one where the dialogue tag is at the end, you can see that there is a common not a full stop, a comma before the close inverted commas.

And that is the rule for when you have the dialogue tag at the end of the sentence, unless you are using a question mark or an exclamation mark.

The second thing to notice is that, if you are using a pronoun, for example, he said, she said, or they said, you should not use a capital letter.

Shall we go back and have a look at what that looks like in the context of those two sentences? So as you can see in that second sentence, it's a small ,S, for the pronoun.

So when your dialogue tag is at the end of the sentence, the rules change, the rules change okay.

So to demonstrate our understanding of that new learning, I would like you to do this checkpoint activity, which of the following has been punctuated correctly? So I would like you to pause the video, look at those three options and write down A, B or C, which of these based on that new learning, which of these do you think has been punctuated correctly? Absolutely fantastic if you got the answer, right.

The answer was C and we're going to explore why, don't worry, If you got that wrong, we're going to explore why right now.

So let's have a look at that key rule.

When your dialogue tag is positioned at the end of the sentence, you must put a comma before the close inverted commas So as you can see, option A didn't follow that rule, option A, put a full stop before the close inverted commas whereas in option C, we can see it's been done correctly.

Let's have a look at this next rule.

When your dialogue type is positioned at the end of the sentence, you must not give your pronoun, so, whereas like he, she, they, you must not give your pronoun a capital letter.

And as you can say, B did not follow that rule, but the rule was followed correctly in C.

Okay I would like you to demonstrate your understanding, of this in the following task.

I would like you to rewrite the following sentences so that the dialogue tags follow the direct speech.

So I've given you an example here.

So let's have a look at the sentence she said, "I am going to play computer games." So the task is you are being asked to change it so that the dialogue tag, goes to the end of the sentence so I've rewritten that sentence and presented it like this "I am going to play computer games," she said.

I would like you to do that for the next three sentences.

I would like you to rewrite them so that the dialogue tags are positioned at the end of the sentence.

But don't forget those new rules that we've learned.

So pause your video and have a go at that now.

Well done students I am so impressed with you thank you so much for your hard work.

Now don't worry, if you found the first one tricky.

Remember that you don't need to put a comma in before the close and inverted commas if the direct speech ends with an exclamation mark or a question mark.

So that might have caught you out, but don't worry about that.

So you don't need to comma, if it ends with an exclamation mark or a question mark.

what would I used to do? Is I'd just like you to pause the video for a moment and just check your work really carefully, correcting any mistakes, thank you.

Okay I'm so pleased, so pleased with these students who've done a fantastic job today thank you.

Now, before you do your exit quiz, I just wanted to say, once again, a massive thank you for your hard work, you really have done a fantastic job.

If you are able to, please take a picture of your work and ask your parent or carer to share it with your teacher so they can see how hard you've been working.

And if you'd like, you could ask your parent or carer to send a picture of your work, to be Oak National Twitter account, and then I can see it too.

Well, thank you very much for all your hard work, and don't forget to complete your exit quiz very well done.

Thank you very much and take care.