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Punctuating Direct Speech and Dialogue — Answers

Answer sheet with model answers and success criteria for the Year 9 punctuation worksheet.

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Success TutoringWorksheetsAnswer sheetYear 9 · English · Punctuation

Punctuating Direct Speech and Dialogue — Answers

Part A: The rules

Spoken words go inside quotation marks. The punctuation that belongs to the speech goes inside the closing quotation marks. Circle the correctly punctuated sentence.

1.Which sentence is punctuated correctly?
  1. A"Close the door" said Priya.
  2. B"Close the door," said Priya.
  3. C"Close the door." said Priya.
  4. D"Close the door", said Priya.

Answer: "Close the door," said Priya.

When the spoken words come before the speaker tag, a comma goes inside the closing quotation marks and the sentence ends after the tag.

2.Which sentence is punctuated correctly?
  1. A"Are you coming?" asked Tom.
  2. B"Are you coming"? asked Tom.
  3. C"Are you coming?," asked Tom.
  4. D"Are you coming," asked Tom?

Answer: "Are you coming?" asked Tom.

The question mark belongs to the spoken words, so it goes inside the quotation marks. No comma is added after it.

3.Which sentence is punctuated correctly?
  1. A"I think," said Ella. "That we should leave now."
  2. B"I think" said Ella, "that we should leave now."
  3. C"I think," said Ella, "That we should leave now."
  4. D"I think," said Ella, "that we should leave now."

Answer: "I think," said Ella, "that we should leave now."

This is one spoken sentence split by the tag, so commas surround the tag and the second part starts with a lowercase letter.

4.When a different person begins speaking, you should:
  1. Astart a new paragraph
  2. Bkeep writing on the same line
  3. Cleave out the quotation marks
  4. Duse a semicolon before the speech

Answer: start a new paragraph

A new paragraph for each new speaker shows the reader who is talking.

5.Which sentence is punctuated correctly?
  1. AMarcus said "we need more time".
  2. BMarcus said, "we need more time."
  3. CMarcus said, "We need more time."
  4. DMarcus said. "We need more time."

Answer: Marcus said, "We need more time."

When the tag comes first, put a comma after it. The speech starts with a capital letter and the period goes inside the closing quotation marks.

6.Which sentence is punctuated correctly?
  1. A"Watch out!" She shouted.
  2. B"Watch out!" she shouted.
  3. C"Watch out," she shouted!
  4. D"Watch out"! she shouted.

Answer: "Watch out!" she shouted.

The exclamation mark goes inside the quotation marks, and she stays lowercase because the sentence continues.

Part B: Punctuate the speech

Rewrite each sentence with capital letters, quotation marks and the correct punctuation.

7.where is the nearest station asked the tourist

Answer: "Where is the nearest station?" asked the tourist.

8.the coach said we have one more game to go

Answer: The coach said, "We have one more game to go."

9.if we hurry said Sam we might still catch the bus

Answer: "If we hurry," said Sam, "we might still catch the bus."

10.I can't believe it she gasped the window is wide open

Answer: "I can't believe it!" she gasped. "The window is wide open."

  1. Two separate spoken sentences: the first ends after the tag with a period, and the second starts with a capital letter. A comma instead of the exclamation mark is also correct.
11.this is the best day ever shouted Kai

Answer: "This is the best day ever!" shouted Kai.

Part C: Direct and indirect speech

Direct speech gives the exact words in quotation marks. Indirect speech reports the words without quotation marks.

12.Which sentence uses indirect (reported) speech?
  1. AShe said, "I am tired."
  2. BShe said that she was tired.
  3. C"I am tired," she said.
  4. D"Tired," she said, "is how I feel."

Answer: She said that she was tired.

Indirect speech reports what was said without quotation marks, usually with that, and shifts the tense and pronouns.

13.Change to indirect speech: "I will finish the report tonight," said Amir.

Answer: Amir said that he would finish the report that night.

  1. Remove the quotation marks, change I to he, will to would and tonight to that night.
14.Change to indirect speech: "Have you seen my keys?" Grace asked her brother.

Answer: Grace asked her brother whether he had seen her keys.

  1. A reported question becomes a statement: no question mark, and the verb shifts back to had seen.
15.Change to direct speech: The pilot told the passengers that they would land in ten minutes.

Answer: "We will land in ten minutes," the pilot told the passengers.

  1. Other correct versions put the tag first: The pilot told the passengers, "We will land in ten minutes."

Part D: Your turn

16.Your turn: write a short exchange of 6–8 lines between two people who disagree about where to go on a weekend trip. Use a new paragraph for each speaker, at least one question, one exclamation, one split sentence and one speaker tag placed before the speech.

Model answer: "We should go to the coast," said Lena. "The forecast is perfect." Arjun frowned. "The coast? It will be packed with people." "That," Lena replied, "is because it is the best place to be." "I would rather hike in the hills," said Arjun. "It is quiet up there." Lena laughed. "Quiet and full of mosquitoes!" Arjun said, "Fine. We will flip a coin."

Success criteria:

  • Quotation marks around every piece of spoken text
  • Correct comma or end mark inside the closing quotation marks
  • A new paragraph for each new speaker
  • At least one question, one exclamation and one correctly punctuated split sentence
  • At least one speaker tag before the speech, followed by a comma
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