Inverted commas (speech marks)

The rules

When it's taught at school: Year 3, with all the punctuation inside by Year 4.

1. 1

   Around the spoken words only

   • "I love this book," said Ella.
2. 2

   Start the speech with a capital letter

   • Ella said, "This book is brilliant."
3. 3

   Speech first? End it with a comma, ? or ! inside

   • "Come here," called Mum.
   • "Where are you?" asked Mum.
   • "Stop!" shouted the guard.
4. 4

   Speaker first? Put a comma before the speech

   • Mum called, "Come here."
5. 5

   New speaker, new line

   In a story, start a new line each time someone different speaks.

   • "Ready?" asked Kai.
   • "Ready," said Zara.

Common mistakes

• "Where is my hat", asked Tom.

  "Where is my hat?" asked Tom.

  The spoken words are a question, so they end with a question mark inside the inverted commas.

• "We won" said Grace.

  "We won," said Grace.

  When the speech comes first, a comma goes at the end of it, inside the inverted commas.

• Dad said, "it's time for bed."

  Dad said, "It's time for bed."

  Spoken words always start with a capital letter.

Spot the mistake, 11+ style

Real examples of the questions in our papers. Cover the answer and see if your child can find the mistake.

• We will probably / be late," said / Dad as we / ran for the bus.

  Show the answer

  Part A should be "We will probably. The words that are spoken need inverted commas (speech marks) at the start and at the end; the opening inverted commas are missing.

• "Is it / my turn / yet? asked / Kwame.

  Show the answer

  Part C should be yet?" asked. The words that are spoken need inverted commas (speech marks) at the start and at the end; the closing inverted commas are missing.

• "Let's go / to the park" / said Aisha / excitedly.

  Show the answer

  Part B should be to the park,". When the spoken words come before who said them, a comma goes at the end of the spoken words, inside the inverted commas.

• "Bring your / wellies" Mum / reminded us, / "because it's muddy."

  Show the answer

  Part B should be wellies," Mum. When the spoken words come before who said them, a comma goes at the end of the spoken words, inside the inverted commas.

• "Where are / you going," / asked Mum / from the kitchen.

  Show the answer

  Part B should be you going?". The spoken words are a question, so they must end with a question mark inside the inverted commas, not a comma.

• "Who left / the door / open," asked / Mrs Shah crossly.

  Show the answer

  Part C should be open?" asked. The spoken words are a question, so they must end with a question mark inside the inverted commas, not a comma.

Practise a little every day

The daily spelling workout ends with a short punctuation round at your child's level, and brings back the marks they miss.