Year 6 English: Direct speech in a longer dialogue
Part of the Year 6 English brackets, dashes, commas and speech chapter. Chapter overview · whole chapter on one page
Direct speech in a longer dialogue
In a longer dialogue, each time a new person speaks, start a new line. Put the spoken words in speech marks. The end mark of the words goes inside the speech marks, and a comma goes inside before a reporting clause such as said Ali.
Punctuating speech
| Pattern | Example |
|---|---|
| Question: the question mark goes inside | "Are you ready?" asked Ali. |
| Exclamation: the mark goes inside | "Hurry!" shouted Mum. |
| Statement: a comma goes inside | "I am ready," said Ella. |
Key ideas
- A new speaker starts a new line.
- Put the spoken words in speech marks.
- The end mark of the spoken words goes inside the speech marks.
Method. Put the speech in marks, with the question mark inside.
- Find the speech. The spoken words are Are you ready.Are you ready
- Add the question mark and speech marks. The question mark goes inside the speech marks."Are you ready?"
- Add the reporting clause. The reporting clause follows the speech."Are you ready?" asked Ali.
- Write the answer. "Are you ready?" asked Ali.
Check. The question mark is inside the speech marks. ✓
Method. Put the speech in marks, with a comma inside before the reporting clause.
- Find the speech. The spoken words are I am ready.I am ready
- Add the comma inside. A comma goes inside the speech marks before said Ella."I am ready,"
- Write the reporting clause. The reporting clause ends with a full stop."I am ready," said Ella.
- Write the answer. "I am ready," said Ella.
Check. The comma is inside the speech marks. ✓
Method. An exclamation mark is never followed by a comma.
- Check the first. The first has a comma after the exclamation mark.!,
- Check the second. The second has the exclamation mark, and no comma."Hurry!"
- Decide. The second is correct."Hurry!" shouted Mum.
- Write the answer. "Hurry!" shouted Mum.
Check. No comma follows an exclamation mark. ✓
Watch out
Watch out: start a new line each time a new speaker begins. Do not put two speakers in the same paragraph.
Exam tip
Grown-up tip. Ask your child to read a short dialogue aloud, with a different voice for each speaker. Ask them to point to each new line.
Exercise 9D Practice: direct speech in longer dialogue
Method. Put the spoken words in speech marks, then the reporting clause.
- Find the spoken words. The words spoken are: Are you ready?Are you ready?
- Punctuate. The end mark goes inside the speech marks, and the reporting clause follows."Are you ready?" asked Ali.
- Write the answer. "Are you ready?" asked Ali.
Check. The punctuation follows the rules for direct speech. ✓
Watch out. When the speech ends with a question or exclamation mark, do not add a comma before the reporting clause.
Method. Put the spoken words in speech marks, then the reporting clause.
- Find the spoken words. The words spoken are: Hurry!Hurry!
- Punctuate. The end mark goes inside the speech marks, and the reporting clause follows."Hurry!" shouted Mum.
- Write the answer. "Hurry!" shouted Mum.
Check. The punctuation follows the rules for direct speech. ✓
Watch out. When the speech ends with a question or exclamation mark, do not add a comma before the reporting clause.
Method. Put the spoken words in speech marks, then the reporting clause.
- Find the spoken words. The words spoken are: I am ready.I am ready.
- Punctuate. The end mark goes inside the speech marks, and the reporting clause follows."I am ready," said Ella.
- Write the answer. "I am ready," said Ella.
Check. The punctuation follows the rules for direct speech. ✓
Watch out. When the speech ends with a question or exclamation mark, do not add a comma before the reporting clause.
Method. Put the spoken words in speech marks, then the reporting clause.
- Find the spoken words. The words spoken are: We have finished the project.We have finished the project.
- Punctuate. The end mark goes inside the speech marks, and the reporting clause follows."We have finished the project," explained Sam.
- Write the answer. "We have finished the project," explained Sam.
Check. The punctuation follows the rules for direct speech. ✓
Watch out. When the speech ends with a question or exclamation mark, do not add a comma before the reporting clause.
Method. Put the spoken words in speech marks, then the reporting clause.
- Find the spoken words. The words spoken are: Where is the bus?Where is the bus?
- Punctuate. The end mark goes inside the speech marks, and the reporting clause follows."Where is the bus?" asked Priya.
- Write the answer. "Where is the bus?" asked Priya.
Check. The punctuation follows the rules for direct speech. ✓
Watch out. When the speech ends with a question or exclamation mark, do not add a comma before the reporting clause.
Method. Put the spoken words in speech marks, then the reporting clause.
- Find the spoken words. The words spoken are: The match starts at noon.The match starts at noon.
- Punctuate. The end mark goes inside the speech marks, and the reporting clause follows."The match starts at noon," said Dev.
- Write the answer. "The match starts at noon," said Dev.
Check. The punctuation follows the rules for direct speech. ✓
Watch out. When the speech ends with a question or exclamation mark, do not add a comma before the reporting clause.
Method. Test each choice against the sentence or the text.
- Read what the question asks for. Decide what the sentence or the text needs.
- Test the choice. The exclamation mark stays inside the speech marks, with no comma after it."Hurry!" shouted Mum. fits
- Reject the other choices. A comma after an exclamation mark is wrong."Hurry!," shouted Mum. do not fit
- Write the answer. "Hurry!" shouted Mum.
Check. The choice fits the sentence or the text. ✓
Method. Look at where the words end.
- Find the end of the speech. The end of the words is the end mark.end mark
- Place the mark. The mark goes inside the speech marks.inside
- Write the answer. The end mark goes inside the speech marks, before the reporting clause.
Check. The end mark is inside the speech marks. ✓
Method. Start a new line for the new speaker, and punctuate the speech.
- Find the new speaker. Ella is a new speaker, so she starts a new line.new line
- Punctuate the speech. The speech is in marks, with a comma before said Ella."I have packed everything," said Ella.
- Write the answer. "I have packed everything," said Ella.
Check. A new speaker starts a new line. ✓
Method. Put the speech in marks, with the exclamation mark inside.
- Find the speech. The words are The bus is leaving.The bus is leaving
- Punctuate. The exclamation mark goes inside the speech marks."The bus is leaving!" shouted Ali.
- Write the answer. "The bus is leaving!" shouted Ali.
Check. The exclamation mark is inside the speech marks. ✓
Method. Put the spoken words in speech marks, then the reporting clause.
- Find the spoken words. The words spoken are: Where is the bus?Where is the bus?
- Punctuate. The end mark goes inside the speech marks, and the reporting clause follows."Where is the bus?" asked Priya.
- Write the answer. "Where is the bus?" asked Priya.
Check. The punctuation follows the rules for direct speech. ✓
Watch out. When the speech ends with a question or exclamation mark, do not add a comma before the reporting clause.
Method. Write each speaker on a new line.
- Write the first line. Shall we go now? is a question, so the mark is inside."Shall we go now?" asked Sam.
- Write the second line. Yes, let us go is a statement with a comma inside."Yes, let us go," said Ruby.
- Write the answer. "Shall we go now?" asked Sam. "Yes, let us go," said Ruby.
Check. Each speaker has a new line. ✓
Method. The question mark replaces the comma.
- Find the wrong mark. A question should end with a question mark, not a comma.comma
- Correct it. Replace the comma with a question mark inside the speech marks."Are you coming?" asked Ben.
- Write the answer. "Are you coming?" asked Ben.
Check. The question mark is inside the speech marks. ✓
Method. Put the spoken words in speech marks, then the reporting clause.
- Find the spoken words. The words spoken are: Hurry!Hurry!
- Punctuate. The end mark goes inside the speech marks, and the reporting clause follows."Hurry!" shouted Mum.
- Write the answer. "Hurry!" shouted Mum.
Check. The punctuation follows the rules for direct speech. ✓
Watch out. When the speech ends with a question or exclamation mark, do not add a comma before the reporting clause.
Method. Think about how the reader follows the dialogue.
- Think about the reader. The reader needs to know who is speaking.who is speaking
- Think about the layout. A new line shows a new speaker clearly.new line
- Write the answer. It shows the reader that a different person is speaking, and makes the dialogue easy to follow
Check. A new line shows the change of speaker. ✓