Enhancing your writing Direct Speech and speech marks

Direct speech When we use direct speech in our writing: The exact words spoken must be put inside speech marks. “ ” The first spoken word must have a capital letter. When a new speaker begins, we must start a new line.

Direct speech When we use direct speech in our writing: We need a piece of punctuation before the final speech mark. It will be a comma, a question mark or an exclamation mark – never a full stop unless it is at the very end of the sentence.

Direct speech Here are some examples of direct speech.

Direct Speech I’ve hurt my leg! “I’ve hurt my leg!” moaned the boy.

Direct speech Can you take a deep breath? “Can you take a deep breath?” asked the doctor. You can put ‘who said it’ after the direct speech:

Direct speech I like this dress. The woman said, “I like this dress.” Or you can put ‘who said it’ before the direct speech:

Direct speech “If I stick out my tongue,” the woman explained, “I look very silly.” If I stick out my tongue, I look very silly. You can even put ‘who said it’ in the middle of a sentence if you want to make an interesting sentence:

Use the correct punctuation to write what is being said. I’ve caught three fish. The train will leave in ten minutes! Do you know what type of angle this is? I love ice cream. I am a clever girl. Direct Speech