Direct speech

What is the direct speech?

Direct speech is any word spoken by a character, the actual words that someone has spoken.

How to punctuate the direct speech?

Ex:that depends a good deal on where you want to get to said the cat

1-Opening speech marks.

"

2-Begin with a capital letter.

  That

3-End with a comma,exclamation mark or question mark.

"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,
"Oh no!"he shouted.
"Did you understand?"she asked.

4-Close the speech marks.

"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to ,"said the Cat

5-End the line with a full stop.

"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to ,"said the Cat.


In the previous example the reporting clause (speaker's name) came after the direct speech but there are different ways for writing the reporting clause,it may come before or after the direct speech or even break up the direct speech into 2 parts.

6-In case the speaker's name (reporting clause) comes first:

*Put a comma after the direct speech . 

*Write a full stop at the end of the direct speech before closing the speech marks.

The Cat said,"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to."

7-Sometimes the reporting clause is placed in the middle of the direct speech and break it up into 2 parts:

• If the second part is completing the first sentence, then start it with a small letter

"Was it," he asked, "the first time you had spoken to Mrs Dalton?"

• If the second part is a new sentence, then start it with a capital letter.

"I'm tired,” she said,"Let's stay at home.”

Note that :We placed punctuation in the first part following the rules, considering the reporting clause comes after the direct speech,
while the second part considering the reporting clause comes before the direct speech with paying attention to the second part whether it is a new sentence or just completing the first one.

Another way is adding a full stop after the reporting clause:

"I'm tired,” she said."Let's stay at home.”

8-New speaker,new line.Each new character's speech starts on a new line.

Check your understanding,click to download the worksheet:
Direct speech punctuation worksheet
Online quiz