Teaching grammar basics: question, exclamation and quotation marks

Before we explore exclamation marks, quotation marks and question marks, here are some of the other blogs in our Teaching Grammar Basics series:

• Nouns (types of nouns and understanding nouns)
• Adjectives
• Apostrophes
• Commas
• Clauses
• Tense and aspect
• Full stops and capital letters
• Connectors
• Semicolons and colons

Quotation marks, sometimes called speech marks or inverted commas, are punctuation marks which indicate the use of speech or quotation.

Quotation marks appear before and after direct speech and are represented as either (‘) or as (“), with (“) being the most common.

• “I can’t wait for dinner,” said Tom.
• Mr Smith shouted, “Don’t do that in class!”
• In her essay, Dr Johnson states, “The environment is all around us.”

One of the most important things to notice is the reappearance of the comma! When writing speech, the comma is used to indicate where the speech ends or begins. If the speech comes first, the comma is always within the quotation marks. If the speech comes second, the comma comes after the verb. To remember this, remember that the speech and the attribution are independent clauses and, to ensure clarity, the comma joins both clauses together.

When using quotation marks, it is important to remember that they are only used to show the exact words a person has said.

• James said, “I don’t want to walk home. Let’s get the bus!”

The quotation marks mean that James said exactly those words. If you are repeating what a person said, but you do not want to write the exact words, you can write reported speech.

• James said that he didn’t want to walk home and suggested that we get the bus.

As you are not directly quoting James, you do not need to use any punctuation marks. Instead, the words “said that” indicate that you are summarising what James had said. These rules apply to the written word as well as speech, such as phrases from books you have read or essays you want to refer to.

The exclamation mark goes at the end of an exclamatory sentence, a sentence which shows the reader to be shocked or surprised at something. These sentences always express a heightened emotion:

• I can’t believe it!
• Go away!
• Not on my watch!

These sentences are often interjections and appear just before a sentence which explains the strong emotions. It is important to remember that, when using the exclamation mark, the punctuation applies to the whole sentence. If you want it to apply to just a clause, you can use parentheses:

• Dolores just won two million dollars (cash!).
• Susan thought it was a dolphin (it was a shark!).

In both cases, the exclamation mark has been used to show where the emotion rests within the sentence. In the first, the amount of money is the emotion whereas, in the second, the appearance of the shark is the surprising moment.

It is also important to know when not to use an exclamation mark. When you use one, you need to think about how the sentence would sound when read aloud. If you use them too frequently, they lose their effect. Additionally, they can only be used when writing informally. If you send a colleague, “Get this sent to me by tomorrow!” the sentence would have a much different implication than just surprise. Instead, you should use words that convey your emotions, rather than just the exclamation mark.

Question marks are used similarly to the exclamation mark, but apply to questions rather than emotions. Whenever a question is written, a question mark must follow:

• Does he know what he’s doing?
• How much is that album?
• Is she talking to me?

A question mark is used in all instances here, as each of these is a direct question. Sometimes, direct questions are more hidden in a sentence:

• You wanted to come all the way here for that?
• Go to the park with you? I don’t think so.

Just like the exclamation mark, the question mark applies to the whole sentence. This means that, when quoting a question, the question mark always appears inside the quotation marks:

• Have I ever told you, “Go away”?
• “Do chickens fly?” the student asked.

Exclamation marks are a powerful punctuation mark. Not only can they change a regular sentence into the imperative, but they can also alter the volume of speech. Some learners, excited by the concept of this punctuation mark, may be tempted to include more than one in their writing, like this:

• “Go to your room!!!!!!!” Mum shouted.

While there is a time and a place for an artfully exaggerated exclamation mark, academic writing is not usually the place. This mistake does not usually originate from a misconception, just an overenthusiasm for the punctuation mark. Keep reminding your learners that only one punctuation mark is necessary at the end of a sentence.

This sentiment also applies to situation where learners use both an exclamation mark and a full stop:

• “I want to go to the shop!.” Farah said.

Unlike the mistake above, this usually originates from the misconception that only full stops can end sentences, while exclamation marks merely alter the tone of the phrase. To address this, state to your learners that full stops, exclamation marks and question marks all have the power to end sentences - this can be seen by the dot at the bottom, showing a full stop is included.

The only situation where two punctuation marks that end sentences can be used together is in the rare occurrence of the interrobang:

• “What on earth are you doing?!”

The interrobang is an atypical punctuation mark, sometimes shown like this - ‽ - that combines the effects of a question mark and an exclamation mark. We wouldn’t recommend introducing this one to your learners; once they know it exists, it’s likely they won’t be able to hold back from using it in every piece of writing.

One common mistake when teaching question marks is using the mark when a question hasn’t been asked explicitly. For example, if someone is probing for information but does not act a specific question:

• “Tell me where you were on Saturday?”
• “I don’t think I know what you’re talking about?”

Both of these statements are probing for more information, and the latter may even have the upwards inflection of a question when spoken aloud, but neither needs a question mark.

If written as questions, these phrases would look like this:

• “Where were you on Saturday?”
• “What are you talking about?”

Most questions can be recognised by the opening word - if it contains a what, where, when, who, why or how, it is probably a question.

• “Where is the nearest post office?”
• “How do I ride a bike?”
• “Who were you on the phone to?”

Knowing how to embed quotations into a piece of text can be difficult, and can differ depending on the type of writing you are producing. However, one of the most common misunderstandings relates to where commas are placed around a quotation.

A common mistakes might look like this:

• “You’re so funny.” Yasmin said.
• “I don’t like ketchup,” Said Mark.
• Poppy said “let’s go to the park.”
• “Dad’s making chilli tonight”.
• “What time should I get up,” Ursula asked.

In all three of these examples, the common within quotations have been misunderstood in different ways. Let’s go through the examples one by one and address them:

• “You’re so funny.” Yasmin said.

In this phrase, the writer has not ended the quotation properly. Quotations within sentences end with a comma within the quotation marks: the sentence does not finish until Yasmin has said it, so there is no full stop.

• “I don’t like ketchup,” Said Mark.

The quotation mark has ended with a comma, correctly, but the writer has misunderstood that, even though the phrase in quotation marks has come to an end, the sentence has not - that means a capital letter is not needed.

• Poppy said “let’s go to the park.”

Statements said within quotations are complete sentences in and of themselves, even when attached to the main sentence by quotation marks. This means that, even though they are part of a larger phrase, the speech in quotation marks should start with a capital letter. As well as this, speech that is embedded into a sentence should be introduced with a comma just as the quotation ends with a comma.

• “Dad’s making chilli tonight”.

Punctuation that is contained within the statement should be placed within the quotation marks. This applies for commas at the end of speech, full stops when speech ends the sentence, and any other punctuation marks used within the quotation.

• “What time should I get up,” Ursula asked.

If another piece of punctuation would usually overlap a full stop, such as a question or exclamation mark, it should replace the comma within speech. Because Ursula is asking a question, the comma should be replaced with a question mark.

However, this can lead to another misconception:

• “What time should I get up in the morning?” Asked Ursula.

Here, a capital letter has followed a question mark. As question marks replace full stops, this should be correct, right?

Unfortunately, when it comes to speech, the rules work slightly differently. Even if a quotation ends with a question or exclamation mark, any text that follows the closed quotation to end the sentence does not begin with a capital letter. This is because, theoretically, the question mark has replaced a comma and not a full stop.

With all of these misconceptions corrected, learners can craft their own written conversations:

• “What time should I get up in the morning?” asked Ursula.
• “Oh, around five,” Dad said, “and make sure you don’t miss the bus!”
• Ursula replied, “I won’t miss it. Don’t worry!”

A great benefit of teaching quotation marks is that writing speech highlights misunderstandings in paragraphs very clearly. If your learners are producing great big blocks of text full of speech with no paragraphs, it’s likely they need a refresher on the rules of paragraph breaks.

The distinction between reported speech and direct speech can be difficult to master - one needs quotation marks and one does not. This can lead to some sentences written in reported speech but with quotation marks, and some sentences written in direct speech without.

A good way to clear up this mistake is to highlight the importance of the word “that” - it makes the difference between direct and reported speech.

• David said, “I want to go to the park.”
• David said that he wanted to go to the park.

If there is a “that”, there is no need for quotation marks.

This leaves room for learners to mix up the tenses necessary for direct and indirect speech - in the above example, the reported speech becomes third person, while direct remains first person - but this can be expanded upon and supported through the explicit teaching of tense and aspect.

Exclamation, question and quotation marks are just a small section of Bedrock's comprehensive grammar curriculum. Bedrock's grammar curriculum uses teaching videos, interactive activities, bespoke prose and engaging recap tasks to reinforce mastery of grammar techniques for both primary and secondary learners.

All work completed on Bedrock's core curriculum is self-marking, and data is collated in intelligent reports to highlight learners' progress and provide tangible data on improvement.