Punctuation Inside the Speech Marks

Year 4 EnglishSpeech Marks3 pages

About this worksheet

A three-page Year 4 worksheet on the punctuation that ends spoken words. Page 1 has ten sentences with a gap before the closing speech marks, such as What time is it asked Zara and I scored a goal cheered Max. Pupils choose a comma, a question mark or an exclamation mark. Page 2 gives four sentences with the mark outside the closing speech marks to rewrite correctly. It ends with Mum said, Put your coat on, where pupils copy the sentence and circle the comma after said. The key gives every answer. It follows England National Curriculum grammar.

Page 1 of 3

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Curriculum objectives covered

Writing - vocabulary, grammar and punctuation

โ€œusing and punctuating direct speechโ€

Page 1 asks for the right mark inside the speech marks, and page 2 corrects marks placed outside.

Writing - vocabulary, grammar and punctuation

โ€œIntroduction to inverted commas to punctuate direct speechโ€

The reporting clause comes first in the last item, so pupils see the comma after said and the full stop inside the closing marks.

What's inside this worksheet

Add the Missing Punctuation

Ten sentences with a dotted gap before the closing marks, from What time is it to Did you see the rainbow.

Spot and Fix the Mistakes

Four sentences such as Have you seen my jumper? asked Chloe, written with the mark on the wrong side, each with two lines to rewrite on.

Who Speaks Next

A boxed sentence with the reporting clause first. Pupils copy it and circle the comma after said.

Answers

All ten gap-fill answers, the four corrected sentences and the circled-comma note.

How teachers use it

Quick starter

Read the page 1 sentences aloud and ask pupils to show a thumb for a comma, a question mark or an exclamation mark before they write.

Common mistake lesson

Put sentence 1 from page 2 on the board and ask pupils to move the question mark. Most Year 4 pupils make this slip in their own writing.

Marking together

Use the key to check items 3 and 9 and talk about why a comma fits better than an exclamation mark.

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