“I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”Īll the rules listed above are followed, plus Let’s see what happens when we have multiple speakers: Have a nice evening,” Mary said.Ī period to end the first quoted sentence.Ĭapital letter to indicate the beginning of the second sentence inside the quotation marks.Ī comma to end the second quoted sentence before the closing quotation mark and before the dialogue tag.Ī period at the end of the sentence (and after the dialogue tag) to indicate that the sentence that contains both sentences of quoted material has ended.Īnd…all of the above remains true even if you reverse the order of the dialogue tag from Mary said to said Mary. This is what happens if there is more than one sentence inside the quotations: The second piece of quoted material appearing on the same line as the first to indicate that the same person/speaker said both pieces of quoted material, even though the second piece of quoted material does not have a dialogue tag. “Have a nice evening.”Ĭapital letter to indicate the beginning of a sentence inside the first opening quotation mark.Ī period at the end of the sentence (and after the dialogue tag) to indicate that the sentence with the first piece of quoted material has ended.Ĭapital letter to indicate the beginning of a sentence inside the second opening quotation mark. ![]() Now see what happens when the dialogue tag separates two sentences of quoted speech: Lower case letter to indicate the second piece of the quotation is still a part of the sentence that began in the first piece of the quotation. Now see what happens when the dialogue tag is placed in the middle:Ĭomma before the second opening quotation mark. What happens when the dialogue tag is placed at the end of the sentence?Ī comma to end the quoted sentence before the closing quotation mark that precedes the dialogue tag.ĭialogue tag at the end with a period to end the sentence. ![]() Here is how to punctuate a sentence that starts with the dialogue tag:Ĭapital letter to indicate the beginning of a sentence inside the opening quotation mark. I think the best way to explain it is to start with some examples of the different ways dialogue tags can be used. In most cases (unless a dialogue tag that indicates thought is used), material inside the quotation marks is considered spoken material. Dialogue tags are a subject and a verb that indicate who is speaking and the method of the speech (spoken/yelled/whispered). ![]() In American English, you are most likely to see the double quotation marks used to indicate a character or person speaking who is not the narrator.ĭialogue usually uses dialogue tags such as “she said,” “he screamed,” “they murmured,” etc. We will focus on dialogue in prose writing that is being spoken by characters in the story.ĭialogue or direct discourse is usually enclosed in quotation marks, either single like these: ‘_’, or double, like these: “_”. We will also talk about each method affects tone in your story. This article will both cover the basic ways to punctuate dialoge in American English and explore some of the less traditional methods. However, some writers find punctuating dialogue confusing: How do I use quotation marks? What is a dialogue tag? Where do the commas go? How come I see writers who don't even use quotation marks? Wait, is that an em dash?! ![]() In prose, dialogue can be a great way to get inside your characters. Dialogue is one of my favorite things to write, and I wish that my job as a technical writer offered more (or any) opportunities for writing it.
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