Speech punctuation helps clarify who is speaking and how they are speaking. Here’s how you punctuate speech:
1. Quotation Marks
- Use double quotation marks (“ ”) to enclose the spoken words.
- Single quotation marks (‘ ’) are used for quotes within quotes.
Example:
“I love to read,” she said. “My favorite book is ‘Pride and Prejudice.’”
2. Punctuation Inside or Outside Quotation Marks
- Periods and commas always go inside the closing quotation mark.
- Colons and semicolons always go outside the closing quotation mark.
- Question marks and exclamation points go inside the closing quotation mark if they are part of the spoken words, but outside if they are part of the larger sentence.
Examples:
- “I went to the store,” she said.
- “I went to the store”; she then went home.
- “Did you go to the store?” she asked.
- “I went to the store!” she exclaimed.
3. Dialogue Tags
- Dialogue tags (like “she said,” “he asked,” or “they shouted”) are used to identify who is speaking.
- Dialogue tags can be placed before, after, or in the middle of the quoted speech.
Examples:
- “I went to the store,” she said.
- She said, “I went to the store.”
- “I went,” she said, “to the store.”
4. Capitalization
- The first word of a direct quote is always capitalized.
- The first word of a quote following a colon is capitalized.
Examples:
- She said, “I went to the store.”
- She said: “I went to the store.”
5. Ellipses
- Use an ellipsis (...) to indicate an omission of words within a quote.
- Ellipses can also be used to indicate a pause or hesitation in speech.
Examples:
- “I... I don’t know what to say,” she stammered.
- “I went to the store... and then I came home.”
