This bright, appealing PDF grammar worksheet is an excellent way to practise and revise using direct speech in Year 4.
This primary resource is divided into five sections:
- Understand
Change these examples of direct speech into reported speech
- Challenge
Can you write a sentence about each picture which includes direct speech? Make sure to include all of the punctuation needed
- Test
Tick the sentence which is punctuated correctly, add missing commas into sentences, and add missing punctuation into sentences
- Explain
Using your own words, explain all of the punctuation that is needed when writing direct speech
- Apply
What do your toys do when you’re not looking? Think about the games or toys you’ve left at home. Imagine if they could talk, and write the conversation they are having right now. Remember to use all of the correct punctuation
Activities include SATs-style questions and opportunities for creative writing responses, with eye-catching images as prompts.
What is direct speech?
Direct speech in writing is where you are directly quoting someone’s words, and these are marked by inverted commas eg “I’ll meet you at the library tomorrow morning,” Sharon said.
Indirect (or reported) speech, on the other hand, is where you are given a rough approximation of what someone said, and doesn’t require quotation/speech marks, eg ‘Sharon told them she’d see them in the library tomorrow.’
Inverted commas go before and after direct speech, surrounding what was said. These are also known as speech marks.
Direct speech examples
“I’m bored,” he complained.
“What’s that noise?” he asked. “Your sister!” his dad replied.
The conductor shouted, “Sit down!”
National Curriculum English programme of study links
Use of inverted commas and other punctuation to indicate direct speech