Sentence structure & punctuation · Topic 16 of 17

Quotation Marks & Dialogue

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Grammar · quotation marks

Quotation marks hold exact words. American style puts periods and commas inside the closing mark; a comma links the quote to its tag.

01 · Direct quoteQuote marks = exact words only

02 · American stylePeriods and commas go inside

03 · Dialogue tag"I'm ready," he said.

Quotation marks hold a speaker's exact words only: She said, "I'm cold." must know

Periods and commas always go inside the closing quote (American style): "Done," she said. must know

A comma links the quote and its tag: He said, "I'm ready." · "I'm ready," he said. must know

? and ! go inside only if the quote itself asks or exclaims: Did she say "noon"?

Colons and semicolons go outside the closing quote: It said "Fragile"; we lifted it

Quote inside a quote = single marks inside double: "He said 'wait,' so I did."

New speaker = new paragraph

✓ Split quote: "When the alarm sounds," she said, "leave the room."

Commonly confused

	Inside	Outside
Period or comma	Always (American style)	Never
Question mark or exclamation point	When the quoted words are the question	When the whole sentence is the question
Colon or semicolon	Never	Always
Example	She asked, "Is it noon?"	Did she say "noon"?

A ? replaces the comma before a tag — ✗ "Ready?," she asked

Indirect quote (no exact words): no quote marks — ✗ Jo said that "she felt tired."

Show 2 more facts

Multi-paragraph quote: open each paragraph, close only at the end

Short works in quotation marks; whole works in italics: the poem "Night Shift"

Pearl

Periods and commas always tuck inside; question marks go wherever the question is.

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