do speech bubbles need speech marks

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What are speech marks? Examples and how to use them

In this guide, learn what speech marks are and take a look at some examples!

Author Eliana Sk

Published April 14, 2022

Author Jane Doe

Learn what speech marks are and take a look at some examples!

Author Eliana Doe

• Key takeaways
• Speech marks are special punctuation marks that show the exact words someone has spoken
• Speech marks look like this: “ ”
• Knowing the difference between direct speech and indirect speech can help us know how to use speech marks

Table of contents

What are speech marks?

Where are speech marks used, how to use speech marks.

From novels to news reports, speech marks are used in all sorts of places! In this guide, we take a look at what they are, where they’re used and some handy rules to keep in mind when using them.

Speech marks are special punctuation marks that show the exact words someone has spoken.

They’re also known as quotation marks and inverted commas, and they always appear in pairs at the beginning and end of what was said.

This is what they look like:  “ ”

And here’s an example of some speech marks in action:

“The words that appear between speech marks are the exact words that someone has said,” said the teacher.

You can find speech marks everywhere. They’re common in stories, news articles, poetry and essays. By showing when someone is speaking, speech marks can help make a text more lively and easier to read.

In a story, speech marks may show which of the characters is speaking. For example, in a children’s book you may read:

“We always eat in the garden,” said Markus.

In a news article, speech marks can be used to show a statement made by an expert. For example:

Economists say that “the increase in production will help the job market to grow”.

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When do children learn about speech marks?

Children usually start learning about speech marks around the age of 7.

Before they learn about speech marks, they’ll first be taught about other forms of punctuation, including full stops, commas, exclamation marks and question marks.

Being able to tell the difference between direct and indirect speech will help children to effectively use speech marks.

• Direct speech:  shows the exact words that were spoken by a person or character. Speech marks are used at the beginning and end of direct speech to represent what someone has said.
• Indirect speech:  shows what someone said without using their exact words. Speech marks aren’t used in these cases.
• A  reporting clause  will let a reader know who said the direct speech and how they said it.

You should always separate direct speech from the reporting clause by a comma.

This may sound a little complicated, but if we look at an example it will all be clearer.

Anne said, “It’s snowing!”

In this example, ‘Anne said’ is the reporting clause, as it lets us know that it was Anne who spoke. This clause is separated by a comma from Anne’s direct speech, which is represented by the text between the speech marks (“It’s snowing!”).

If you’re writing a conversation between multiple people, reporting clauses can also help to clarify who’s speaking, and when.

Speech mark examples

Let’s take a look at some examples of speech marks in actions. These will help us better understand the different uses of speech marks.

The teacher said that Anthony’s story was “exceptionally written” and that’s why she read it to the whole class.

In this example, a fragmented part of the teacher’s statement is quoted. This is why the statement isn’t capitalised and has no punctuation before or within the quotation marks.

Markus laughed, “Did you see how high I jumped?”

“I know! It was amazing!” Adriana agreed.

In this example, two different people are speaking. The reporting clauses (‘Marcus laughed’ and ‘Adriana agreed’) shows us who is speaking. Each speaker is also placed on a new line to help the reader see that a new person has started speaking.

“It’s amazing,” William exclaimed, “there are bubbles everywhere!”

In this example, the statement made by William is separated by the reporting clause. This is a fun way of adding some character to your writing when using speech marks.

“Polar bears are my favourite real animals,” Mario said. He then told us about the mythical animals he likes more than polar bears.

This is an interesting example because only part of what Mario said is directly written down. The rest is summarised in indirect speech, and this is why there are no speech marks in the second sentence.

How to use speech marks when writing

If you’d like to quote a phrase or statement, using speech marks will show the reader that these aren’t your original words.

Speech marks are also a great way to give emphasis to certain phrases.

If you’re writing stories, they’ll also help to separate when the different characters are talking. Keep in mind that speech is a faster way of moving a story forward, so be careful about how much you use them!

General rules for using speech marks

There are a few helpful rules to keep in mind when using speech marks:

• Sentences made by different characters or people will need to be in separate lines
• If you’re using a person’s full statement, the punctuation of the sentence will need to be within the quotation marks. This includes full stops, exclamation marks, and question marks.
• If a reporting clause is before the speech marks, you’ll need a comma to separate the two. This comma will be before the speech marks.
• If a reporting clause comes in the middle of two quoted sentence parts, you’ll need a comma at the end of the speech marks in the first part and at the beginning of the speech marks in the second part of the sentence

Final thoughts

Using speech marks is relatively easy once you realise they’re only used to express what someone said. When writing an essay or story, speech marks can also help to make your writing more interesting and lively!

To learn even more about speech marks, why not download the  DoodleEnglish app ?

It’s filled with interactive exercises exploring the topic, making it the perfect way to put your learning into practice.

Best of all, it’s designed to be used for just 10 minutes a day — and you can try it for absolutely free!

FAQs about speech marks

Speech marks are punctuation marks that show the words someone has spoken. They’re also known as quotation marks and inverted commas.

If we look at an example: Peter said, “It’s raining!”

‘Peter said’ is a reporting clause, as it lets us know that it was Peter who spoke.

This clause is separated by a comma from Peter’s direct speech, which is represented by the text between the speech marks (“It’s raining!”).

You should use speech marks each time someone speaks.

Speech marks are also called ‘inverted commas’.

You should use inverted commas whenever someone speaks in your writing.

Single speech marks (‘ ‘) can be used to replace double quotation marks (” “) when they’re inside of double quotation marks.

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What is the purpose of speech marks?

To indicate speech...

They make it obvious that the text between them is dialogue rather than narrative in a story, or that what's printed was said by someone.

For example:

Jimmy said "I want to eat cake"

Jimmy said I want to eat cake.

The second one could mean either Jimmy said "I want to eat cake" or that Jimmy said the person writing wants to eat cake. The first one is unambiguous.

Quotation marks, also known as speech marks, are used to indicate that the enclosed text is a direct quotation or dialogue. They help distinguish spoken words from surrounding text and show that the words are not the speaker's own.

Add your answer:

Do you need speech marks inside a speech bubble?

Yes, speech marks are typically used inside a speech bubble to indicate that the words inside are being spoken by a character. This helps to differentiate spoken dialogue from the narrative text.

What is a speech marks?

Speech marks, also known as quotation marks, are punctuation marks used to indicate that someone is speaking verbatim. They are placed at the beginning and end of a direct quotation to show that the words in between are someone else's words, not the speaker's.

What does Speech Marks mean?

Speech marks, also known as quotation marks, are punctuation marks used to indicate direct speech or a quotation. They are placed at the beginning and end of the quoted text. In writing, they help to distinguish speech from the rest of the text and indicate that the words within the marks are being spoken by someone else.

Do speech marks end after a full stop?

No, speech marks do not end after a full stop. In British English, the full stop is placed inside the closing speech marks. In American English, the full stop is placed inside the closing speech marks when it is part of the quoted text, and outside when it is not.

What are the three rules of using speech marks?

Firstly, you must use speech marks when: (i) you are quoting someone in thier speech (ii) use speech marks on every new line (iii) Use speech marks when giving personal interaction Hope that Helps :)

Do you underline a presidential speech or use quotation marks?

You would typically use quotation marks to indicate that the text is a direct quote from a presidential speech. Underlining is not commonly used for this purpose in modern writing styles.

What does the symbol ... Mean?

Speech marks, many writers use this: ' Although technically those are speech marks.

Purpose of a commemorative speech is to?

purpose of a commemorative speech

Where are speech marks on a keyboard?

Speech marks " are obtained by holding down the SHIFT key, and pressing the number 2

How do we use speech marks?

Speech marks, also known as quotation marks, are used to indicate when someone is speaking or to enclose direct speech in writing. They are placed at the beginning and end of the quoted text. In British English, single quotation marks are typically used, while in American English, double quotation marks are more common. Remember to punctuate your sentence properly when using speech marks.

Are speech marks used for thought?

No, speech marks are typically used to indicate direct speech or a quotation. For thoughts, it is more common to use italics, quotation marks, or no punctuation at all, depending on the style guide being followed.

What are the punctuation marks are put around the spoken words?

speech marks

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Speech marks.

One handout with the main rules of using speech marks and one worksheet for learners to practise applying these rules.

I used these with a strong L1 literacy group who had little prior knowledge of the rules for speech marks. They generally did well with re-writing some unpunctuated sentences I gave them but got a bit confused with the attached exercise on Prince William and Kate Middleton (they used speech marks inside the speech bubbles). This may need to be demonstrated in front of the group first. However, it did produce some very funny writing.

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Error corrected in handout (example 1). Thanks to Judith White for reporting this and sorry it’s taken me so long to fix!

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Monday, April 27, 2015

Comic strip quotation marks.

• Did I use the BEST word choice?  
• Could I be more descriptive?  
• If we closed our eyes and read the story would we have questions or would we be able to clearly visualize the actions, facial expressions, and tone of voice of each of our characters? 

2 comments:

Love, love, love the idea of using comic strips for descriptive writing! It really wraps up everything the students have been working on all year - all the story elements, grammar, setting the tone, and lennnnnngggggthening your sentences to be detailed and precise. However, adding the element of using quotes directly from the comics takes the pressure off of the students to create a story. The story is already written - they just have to be the author of description. I can't wait to used this in my writing block.

Thanks! I think that the opposite would be great too. Give students a short, funny story, poem, riddle, or joke and let them create a comic out of it.

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Punctuation in direct speech

We use inverted commas (also called quotation marks, quotes or speech marks) to indicate direct speech. Double quotes (") are preferred in American English, while single quotes (') are more common in British English:

" I'm coming home late tonight, " she said. (American English) ' I'm coming home late tonight, ' she said. (British English)

If we quote within direct speech, we use the other style for the embedded quotation:

"She said, ' I'm coming home late tonight ', " recalled Jim. (American English) 'She said, " I'm coming home late tonight ", ' recalled Jim. (British English)

As can be seen in the examples above, a comma ( , ) is used at the end of the quotation, before the closing speech mark.

A comma is also used before the quotation if we start the sentence with the reporting clause. In this case the terminal full stop (.) comes before the closing speech mark:

She added , "Don't expect me before 11 . "

If the quotation is a question or exclamation, the terminal marks ( ? and ! ) also come before the closing speech marks:

"Hurry up ! " he shouted. She asked, "Am I late ? "

The quotation normally begins with a capital letter, except if it is interrupted by a reporting clause, in which case the first letter of the continuation is not capitalised:

" I 'm coming home late tonight," she said and added, " d on't expect me before 11."

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The Fun (and Effective) Way to Teach Quotation Marks

Sarah Major, M.Ed. is passionate about working in harmony with a child's immaculate design to support their learning strengths. As a Title 1 Program Director and Designer, Sarah earned awards for creating her own multisensory educational resources that have now been sold in all 50 states and over 150 countries. Sarah’s approach goes beyond verbal explanation, incorporating hands-on activities that utilize right-brained strategies to teach students difficult topics such as using quotations.  

When I taught second grade, the majority of my students had a hard time with quotation marks. They were not sure how to use them, when to use them, or how to identify in writing the words that were actually being spoken by someone. This first surprised me and then puzzled me. I thought it was relatively easy to discern which the spoken words were when I read. I didn’t know how much of their difficulty was due to a lack of focus on the content of the text, or if they just needed to be taught quotation marks in a more direct way. In retrospect, it seems that the difficulty for my students might have been that when a child is reading a passage, they are speaking ALL of it. So, there can be a bit of a challenge to separate words spoken by a character in the passage from those the child is speaking.

No matter what the cause of confusion stemmed from, I knew that rather than verbally explaining a new or difficult concept, I needed to add some right-brain-friendly strategies. Once I infused my lessons with multisensory elements, my students were easily able to comprehend and correctly use quotation marks. The following lesson will show you how to help your students experience success, too! (This unit can last a week or two if you do all the suggested activities.) 

For this lesson, we will use a simplified version of Little Red Hen , as it is chock-full of spoken words.

What You Will Need

• 4 Actors/Actresses*
• Character Identification Images
• Story of Little Red Hen
• Chart Paper or Whiteboard
• Colored Markers/Dry Erase Markers (5 different colors) *If 4 actors/actresses are not available, improvise with the number you have available, making sure to distinguish the different characters when speaking their lines. Another option is to use a picture and point to the characters when their lines are spoken. For groups over 4, you can split the lines or repeat the skit as many times as needed.
• Print the Character Identification images and cut out if desired.
• Write the story on chart paper or whiteboard, without quotation marks, or use smaller copies for individual use.

How to Teach

• After you get through the story this way, tell the children you will act out the play again, but this time they will only be reading the words that are underlined. This activity offers a visual and auditory experience that will reinforce their understanding through the spoken repetition of the words.
• Now would be a good time to go over quotation marks basics:
• Write the following example sentences on your whiteboard: Mom said, “Come in now.” “Can you play ball now?” Tom asked.

This activity will not only help the children understand what quotation marks mean, but it will help them in reading other texts. Best of all, their writing will reflect their understanding of how to use correct punctuation with conversation. 

For this lesson, we will use comic strips to help children understand the connection between speech bubbles and quotation marks.

• Marker/Dry Erase Marker
• Writing Paper & Pencils
• Comic strips from newspapers or online. You will need copies of each strip corresponding to the number of speakers in the comic strip. Preferably, find comics that have super easy words.

Preparation

For each comic strip, write a brief story on your chart paper or whiteboard. Use the same words that are used in the dialogue in the comic strip but add surrounding words. Here is an example from a Peanuts® comic strip:

• Select your first pair or group of actors. If the comic strip you have selected for them has two speakers, you will need two children; if the strip has three speakers, you will need three children. Give each child a copy of the comic strip you have chosen and assign them parts. Let them practice the parts until they are ready. Of course, they don’t have to quote the comic strip exactly!
• Have the actors read or say the content of the comic strip in front of the class.
• Transition to Print
• Share with your students that in a comic strip, little speech bubbles are floating around that show what each person is saying. We don’t have any other words at all, just what each person says.
• Now direct their attention to the chart paper on which you have written the little story. Read it to them, following the line of text with your finger or pointing stick.
• Ask the children if they see anything that might signal to the reader what each person is saying. Point out the quotation marks and suggest they are like parts of the speech bubble as seen in the comic strip. “In fact,” (use a marker for this part of the activity) “we can just draw the speech bubbles right in the story!”

• Tell the children that having speech bubbles inside a story would be really messy and distracting, so we have replaced them with little marks on either side of the words spoken by each person.
• Take it Further

Follow up with these three hands-on enrichment activities to reinforce and solidify your child’s understanding of this tricky concept.

• Give the children a new comic strip and have them turn it into a story like you did on the chart paper. They would use the words from the comic strip, using quotation marks in place of the speech bubbles. The students might enjoy working in pairs on this activity.
• Have the children start with a typed story and, working with a partner, turn it into a comic strip that uses speech bubbles.
• Have the children work with a friend and write an original comic strip/story which they will illustrate AND write in story form. Thus, they will practice both quotation marks and speech bubbles. Let them share their work with the class. 

Quotation marks and the concept of spoken words in writing have the potential to be stumbling blocks for young students. By utilizing hands-on, engaging activities that help your child SEE what is happening, they will quickly and easily grasp this challenging concept. Try it today and see the difference!

Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions; we are here to support you in your educational journey!

Amazing, detailed and organized. Thank you

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Year 1 - Speech Bubbles to Speech Marks

Subject: English

Age range: 5-7

Resource type: Worksheet/Activity

Last updated

8 March 2020

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Quick task to introduce basic use of speech marks in Year 1.

Worksheet includes 3 character speech bubbles which children must then turn into a written sentence with speech marks.

Includes grey and red handwriting lines which children may come across in English or Literacy work books.

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