Speech Marks / Inverted Commas

Speech marks (inverted commas) worksheets for Year 3 and Year 4: punctuating direct speech step by step, with a quiz and answers.

Teach and practise punctuating direct speech step by step: a colour-coded rules page, three star-rated worksheets (add the inverted commas, add all the punctuation, speech bubbles and a conversation), a speech detective page, reporting verbs and a 10-mark quiz, all with answers. Print-ready PDF, 10 pages.

A complete, ready-to-print direct speech pack for lower KS2, matched to Years 3 and 4 in English Appendix 2.

What’s included (10-page A4 PDF):

• Teacher notes with a page map, National Curriculum links and the conventions used
• Learn It: what direct speech is, colour-coded examples (reporting clause first or last, questions, exclamations), six rules, how to set out a conversation and the “speech sandwich” tip
• Sheet 1 (1 star): add the inverted commas to 8 sentences; write what two characters say; a challenge
• Sheet 2 (2 stars): add the inverted commas and the missing comma, full stop, question mark or exclamation mark to 8 sentences; move the reporting clause in 4 more
• Sheet 3 (3 stars): turn a 4-bubble cartoon into direct speech with varied reporting verbs; punctuate and set out a short conversation
• Speech Detective: 10 sentences to mark correct or wrong and fix
• Instead of “Said”: a word bank of reporting verbs and 6 sentences to improve
• Quick quiz: 10 one-mark questions
• Full answers, which also accept exclamation marks wherever the words could be exclaimed

Name/date line on pupil pages. British English spelling. Clear, dyslexia-friendly font (Andika). Simple original illustrations.

This resource was created with AI assistance (Claude), then fact-checked and proofread in a separate review pass.