Quotation Marks Five rules to follow when writing

Quotation Marks Five rules to follow when writing dialogue

What is dialogue? • A conversation between two or more people

Dialogue Tags • What are they? • two words or more which attributes speech to a particular speaker. • Examples: • He said • She shouted • He asked

Punctuation around dialogue tags • Use a comma NOT a period! • Note: dialogue tags are in green • Examples: Matt said, “I want more ice cream. ” “This is my favorite class, ” screamed Jamie.

HERE ARE YOUR FIVE RULES TO PUNCTUATING DIALOGUE

Rule #1 • Place quotation marks around the words that actually come out of the person’s mouth. Examples: Matt said, “I want more ice cream. ” “This is my favorite class, ” said Jamie.

Rule #2 • If the quotation is at the end of a sentence, place the ending punctuation inside the end quotation mark. Examples: My mom said, “Clean your room!” Mariah said, “I want a i. Pod for my birthday. ”

Rule #3 • If the quotation is not at the end of a sentence, don’t forget to properly punctuate the sentence. Examples: “I attend Lake Shore High School, ” said John. “Hush your mouth! Don’t matter who they are, any body sets foot in this house’s yo’ company, ” Calpurnia said.

Rule #4 • Each time a new person speaks, begin a new paragraph. Example: Mariah stomped her foot and demanded, “I want an i. Pod for my birthday!” “Certainly, honey, ” her father replied. “Anything for my angel. ” Notice the indented paragraph when the speaker switches from Mariah to her father.

Rule #5 • Capitalize the first word of what the person says, even if it occurs in the middle of a larger sentence. Example: Mariah’s mother asked her husband, “How are we going to afford this i. Pod? ”