Year 6 English · Brackets, dashes, commas and speech · Summary
Year 6 English Brackets, dashes, commas and speech: summary and key words
Part of the Year 6 English brackets, dashes, commas and speech chapter. Chapter overview · whole chapter on one page
Chapter summary
| Skill | Method |
|---|---|
| Brackets | Round brackets enclose extra information that can be removed. |
| Dashes and commas | A pair of dashes or a pair of commas can also mark a parenthesis. |
| Commas for meaning | A comma can show who is addressed, or what goes with what, and prevent a misreading. |
| Dialogue | A new line for each speaker; speech marks round the words; the end mark inside them. |
| Reported speech | No speech marks; pronouns change; tenses often move back. |
Can you…?
- I can mark extra information with brackets, a pair of dashes or a pair of commas
- I can add a comma so that a sentence cannot be misread
- I can set out a dialogue with a new line for each speaker
- I can punctuate speech with the end mark inside the speech marks
- I can change direct speech into reported speech, and back again
Key terms
- parenthesis
- extra information in a sentence that can be removed without losing the main meaning
- ambiguity
- when a sentence can be read in more than one way
- dialogue
- the words spoken between two or more people in a text
- reporting clause
- the words that say who is speaking, such as said Ella
- direct speech
- the exact spoken words, in speech marks
- reported speech
- the meaning of what was said, without speech marks, often with the tense moved back