Using Quotation Marks

Dialogue is writing exactly what a character would say. Found in all forms of print and can be written in several ways.

Prose Writing In writing assignments, books, magazines, and newspapers dialogue appears in quotes. A speech tag is used to identify who is exactly saying what. (can come before, after, or in the middle of a dialogue) When a different character starts speaking a new paragraph should be formed.

Writing with Quotations Place quotation marks before and after each quoted words. Always capitalize 1st word in quote. Place a comma in between the speech tag and quotations. Place punctuation inside the quotation marks. * If the speech tag is at the end of the quote, place a period at the end. “ “ . , I want to push the shopping cart Alex said

Interrupted Quotations If a direct quotation is interrupted mid-sentence, do not capitalize the second part of the quotation, and add commas before and after the speech tag. “ “ “ , , I didn't see an actual alien being Vinny said but I sure wish I had . “ “ , “ , “ I saw the alien said Christian I was even abducted by its spaceship . “

“ “ , . “ . , “ “ , ! “ “ “ ! . Let’s Practice! Don’t forget to do your homework Mr. Schonfeld stated Tomorrow is our last day of school for the week Sean replied Paul smiled and exclaimed You’ve done a great job Hey, Alexis is here shouted all the students . “ . , “ “ , ! “ “ “ ! .

, “ ‘ . ‘ “ , “ ‘ . ‘ “ Quotes within Quotes Punctuation is placed inside both quotations Use single quotation marks to enclose quotes within another quotation , “ The reporter told Hiyuma When I interviewed the quarterback, he said they simply played a better game ‘ . ‘ “ , “ Ms. Oser told her students When we were driving to the convention Ms. Dubois said this convention is going to be very educational ‘ . ‘ “

End Marks and Quotations Place a question mark or exclamation point within closing quotation marks if the punctuation applies to the quotation itself. Place the punctuation outside the closing quotation marks if the punctuation applies to the whole sentence. Phillip asked, "Do you need this book?" , “ Does Mrs. Doolittle always say to her students You must work harder “ ? , “ Does Sophia always say An apple a day keeps the doctor away “ ?

Titles Short titles of written works should have be identified with quotation marks or italicized. Songs Short Stories Essays Poems One Act Plays Titles of sections from longer works Chapters in books Articles in newspapers, magazines, or journals Episodes of television and radio series

, “ ? “ , “ “ ? “ “ . , “ ‘ ! ‘ “ Let’s Practice! Does Michael always tell the students Knowledge is Power ? “ , “ When did Roosevelt say We have nothing to fear but fear itself “ ? “ “ . Skyler’s favorite poem is Robert Frost’s The Road Not Taken , “ Trevor told Nick When I asked Decklan how the game Modern Warfare 3 was, he exclaimed It’s the best game ever ‘ ! ‘ “