The first word of the dialogue inside the quotes should be capitalized. If the dialogue tag precedes the dialogue, the comma goes before you open the quotation marks.
You will always end a dialogue tag, even if it contains another clause, with a period. If the dialogue ends with a question mark or exclamation point in the quotation marks, you will still begin the dialogue tag with a lowercase letter. “I don’t know what you mean,” the man said.If the dialogue tag comes after the dialogue, you will use a comma inside the quotation marks and you’ll start the dialogue tag with a lowercase letter (except in the case of proper nouns). They are simple phrases that include a noun, proper noun, or pronoun and some variation of the word “said.” Dialogue tags have specific rules for punctuation. Ration the food to last through a long siege, and recruit any able-bodied citizen to fight.” Dialogue Tagsĭialogue tags are phrases that show who is speaking and how. Have the blacksmiths forge as many weapons as possible.
We will do everything in our power to defeat the invaders. The king said, “We are not going to lose this war. In that case, do not close the quotation marks until the character is done speaking, but open each new paragraph with new marks. You should always close your quotation marks, unless your dialogue continues into the next paragraph without a dialogue tag or action beat. But all you have to do is alternate between single or double quotation marks, like these examples:Īmerican English: “He said ‘I love you’ last night,” James said.īritish English: ‘He said “I love you” last night,’ James said. Quotes inside of dialogue might seem tricky. At the end of dialogue, punctuation marks such as periods, question marks, exclamation points, commas, and ellipses always go inside the quotation marks, as per the examples above. In general, American English uses double quotations marks for dialogue, while British English uses single quotation marks.Īmerican English: “Put it in the trash can,” she said.īritish English: ‘Put it in the rubbish bin,’ she said.Ī common mistake involves where to put the punctuation marks: inside or outside the quotation marks.
You might know that there are both single and double quotation marks.
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