Quotation marks go around a speaker’s exact words. With them come a few rules about the commas, periods and question marks nearby. You already set off spoken names with commas; dialogue uses commas too.
- A comma separates the speaker tag from the words: Mia said, “We won.” “We won,” Mia said.
- In American style, periods and commas go inside the closing mark.
- A question mark or exclamation point goes inside only when the quotation itself asks or exclaims: Sam asked, “Where is the map?”
- Start a new paragraph each time the speaker changes.
- A quotation split by a tag doesn’t start again with a capital: “If it rains,” Mia said, “we’ll stay in.”
Key idea
Quote exact words. Periods and commas go inside the closing mark. Question marks and exclamation points go inside only when they belong to the quoted words. A new speaker gets a new paragraph.
Why it works
Readers need to know exactly whose words they are reading and where those words stop. Keeping the marks in fixed places lets the reader stop thinking about punctuation and follow the conversation.
Worked example: Whose question is it?
Punctuate: Did Ms. Park say “The test is on Friday”
- Ms. Park’s words are a statement, not a question.
- The whole sentence is the question.
- So the question mark goes outside the closing mark, and the quoted statement loses its period.
Answer: Did Ms. Park say, “The test is on Friday”?
Worked example: Not exact words
“Mia said that she was ready.”
- These are not Mia’s exact words; the sentence reports what she said.
- An indirect quotation takes no quotation marks.
Answer: No quotation marks needed.
Common mistake
Putting the comma or period outside: “Hi”, she said. That is common in British style, but American style puts it inside: “Hi,” she said. Also watch for a question mark placed inside when the quoted words don’t ask anything.