Learning outcomes

Activity: punctuating direct speech
Use inverted commas and other punctuation in the following examples of direct speech. You should not change any of the words, but sometimes you may need to change a letter from lower to upper case. See below for answers.

1. 
   He called loudly I want you to hurry up and get ready.
   
2. 
   I will not she said put up with any more of this.
   
3. 
   Before Christmas she said I was a happy person.
   
4. 
   What do you mean by I don’t like it?
   
5. 
   He asked do you know what the expression too many cooks spoil the broth means?
   
6. 
   John said, David I do not like you.
   
7. 
   John, said David, I do not like you.
   
8. 
   Please let me go pleaded Sue I will wash up for a week if you do.
   
9. 
   Don’t cried Bob let me catch you doing that again.
   
10. 
    I like She Loves You best of all the Beatles’ songs said Paul.
    

Please note that some punctuation, such as the use of exclamation marks rather than, say, full stops, may vary from author to author.

1. 
   He called loudly, ‘I want you to hurry up and get ready!’
   
2. 
   ‘I will not,’ she said, ‘put up with any more of this.’
   
3. 
   ‘Before Christmas,’ she said, ‘I was a happy person.’
   
4. 
   ‘What do you mean by “I don’t like it”?’ asked Jo.
   
5. 
   He asked, ‘Do you know what the expression “too many cooks spoil the broth” means?’
   
6. 
   John said, ‘David, I do not like you.’
   
7. 
   ‘John,’ said David, ‘I do not like you.’
   
8. 
   ‘Please let me go,’ pleaded Sue.’ I will wash up for a week if you do.’
   
9. 
   ‘Don’t,’ cried Bob, ‘let me catch you doing that again!’
   
10. 
    ‘I like “She Loves You” best of all the Beatles’ songs,’ said Paul.
    

Colons and semi-colons
In Year 6, children are introduced to the use of the colon and semi-colon.
The winner of the 2013 Booker Prize, Hilary Mantel, says she is addicted to semi-colons (cited in Truss, 2003). Rosen (2012) blogs that he tries to avoid them altogether, and expresses a concern that children might think that they have to use them. He writes, I like short sentences. I like to punctuate them with full stops and not semi-colons. I got this from a writer I like. His name is Charles Dickens. Moral of the story: don’t read Charles Dickens, you might pick up bad habits.
The ‘rules’ governing the use of colons and semi-colons are flexible. Their purpose is to indicate a stronger subdivision of a sentence than a comma, but less final than a full stop. The following guidelines may be helpful.
Colon
The colon can be used to indicate that an example is following or to introduce a list, such as:
All students undertake to: attend all lectures and seminars, submit assignments on time, and meet their tutor each term.
The use of the colon separates and highlights the list showing that each separate item is a requirement.
A colon is often preceded by a complete sentence and may also be used before a second clause that expands or illustrates the first.
She was very tired: it was three in the morning.
He pulled back the curtains: bright sunlight lit up the room.