Speech interrupted: inverted commas and punctuation rules | English

Starter quiz

Which of the following pieces of punctuation can be used to end a sentence?
- full stop ✓
- comma
- question mark ✓
- exclamation mark ✓
Match the sentence to the most likely ending punctuation.
- full stop
  
  ⇔
  
  You need to leave the room ✓
- question mark
  
  ⇔
  
  Will you leave the room please ✓
- exclamation mark
  
  ⇔
  
  Leave the room right now ✓
Which sentence is correctly punctuated?
- Next, open your books?
- Next open your books,
- Next, open your books. ✓
What is the name for the punctuation used here: "Where are you?" she asked.
- apostrophes
- commas
- inverted commas ✓
Which sentence contains inverted commas around the words the character has said?
- "Welcome to my home," said Aisha with a smile. ✓
- "Welcome to my home, said Aisha" with a smile.
- "Welcome to my home, said Aisha with a smile."
Which part of this sentence was not said out loud: "Can I help?" said Mr McIntyre with a smile.
- Can I help?
- said Mr McIntyre
- said Mr McIntyre with a smile ✓

What is the purpose of direct speech?
- to tell us who said something and how
- to show the words someone said out loud ✓
- to show the actions someone performed as they spoke
Which of the following might we find in a reporting clause?
- the name of the speaker ✓
- an adverb for how they spoke ✓
- an action they performed as they spoke ✓
- the words they said
Which of these speech first sentences is correctly punctuated?
- "Can you help me" asked Sofia quietly.
- "Can you help me?" asked Sofia quietly. ✓
- "Can you help me? asked Sofia quietly."
Which speech second sentence is punctuated correctly?
- Jun asked, "Is it home time yet?" ✓
- Jun asked "Is it home time yet?"
- Jun asked, "Is it home time yet"?
Match the type of speech sentence to the example.
- speech first
  
  ⇔
  
  "This time, I'm going to win!" bellowed Andeep. ✓
- speech second
  
  ⇔
  
  Andeep muttered, "This time, I'm going to win." ✓
- speech interrupted
  
  ⇔
  
  "This time," Andeep scowled, "I'm going to win." ✓
Which speech interrupted sentence is punctuated correctly?
- "I want to win" said Aisha, "but I don't think I will."
- "I want to win," said Aisha "but I don't think I will."
- "I want to win," said Aisha, "but I don't think I will." ✓

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Inverted commas are the punctuation that signal direct speech to the reader.
A speech interrupted sentence begins with a character's spoken words.
The character's spoken words are interrupted by the reporting clause.
The character's spoken words resume after the reporting clause and the speech interrupted sentence ends.
A character's spoken words must be chosen carefully to include a natural break when punctuating speech interrupted.

Pupils may omit the commas from a speech interrupted sentence or include an extra capital letter.

Use the graphic included in the slides as a visual prompt for pupils when writing speech interrupted.

Direct speech - the term used for a character speaking out loud in a text
Speech interrupted sentence - a sentence in which a character's speech is interrupted by the reporting clause
Inverted commas - a pair of punctuation marks that signal direct speech to the reader
Reporting clause - a clause that tells the reader who said the speech sentence and how