Year 3 — Punctuation

Sentence punctuation

Use full stops, commas, apostrophes, question marks and exclamation marks correctly, and start using inverted commas (speech marks) for what someone says.

Back to Year 3

💡Understand

INVERTED COMMAS (speech marks) go around the exact words someone says out loud. They are new this year — everything else (full stops, commas, apostrophes, question marks, exclamation marks) you already know, but now we use them together in more complex sentences.

“"Watch out!" shouted Leo, pointing at the falling branch.”

The speech marks go around exactly what Leo said ('Watch out!'). The exclamation mark is INSIDE the speech marks because it's part of what he shouted. A comma separates the speech from 'shouted Leo'.

🔍Spot it

Is the punctuation used correctly here?

Question 1

"I'm so excited," said Mia.

💡 The speech marks correctly surround exactly what Mia said.

Question 2

"Where are you going? asked Tom.

💡 There's no closing speech mark after the question mark, so it's incorrect.

Question 3

The dogs bone was buried in the garden.

💡 It should be "dog's bone" with an apostrophe to show the bone belongs to the dog.

🧠Think about it

Why do speech marks always go around ONLY the exact words someone says, not the whole sentence?

✍️Try it

Choose the correctly punctuated sentence.

You want to show someone shouting 'Run!' in a sentence.

Question 1

Which is correctly punctuated?

💡 Speech marks need to open AND close around exactly what was said.

📝Practise

Choose the correctly punctuated sentence each time.

Question 1

Choose the correct one.

Question 2

Choose the correct one.

Question 3

Choose the correct one.

Question 4

What is the special name for the punctuation marks used around spoken words, like " "?

💡 It's the new skill introduced this year.

Question 5

Choose the correct one.

Question 6

Choose the correct one.

🎯Apply

Read the passage, then answer the questions below.

"Look at that rainbow!" exclaimed Layla, pointing at the sky. "It's beautiful," agreed her brother.

Question 1

What exactly did Layla say?

💡 Look for the words inside the first set of speech marks.

Question 2

Why is the exclamation mark placed INSIDE the speech marks?

Question 3

Who agreed that the rainbow was beautiful?

💡 It's mentioned right after the second quotation.

🏆Challenge

Can you write a sentence with someone saying "I'm so happy!" using correct speech marks and punctuation?

🔄Review

A quick mastery check — 3 questions.

Question 1

Choose the correct one.

Question 2

Choose the correct one.

Question 3

Why do speech marks only go around the exact spoken words?