QUOTATION MARKS
QUOTATION MARKS
• used to set off the exact words of a speaker
• to show what a writer has “borrowed” from another
book or magazine
• to set off the titles of publications
• to show that certain words are used in a special
way
TO SET OFF DIRECT QUOTATIONS
• Quotation marks are placed before and after direct
quotations.
• Only the exact words quoted are placed within
quotation marks.
• Example:
• A noted sociologist recently remarked, “You can say
goodbye to your key rings. By the turn of the century,
plastic cards that open electronic locks will be
commonplace.”
FOR A QUOTE WITHIN A QUOTE
• Single quotation marks are used to punctuate a
quotation within a quotation.
• Double and single quotation marks are then
alternated in order to distinguish a quotation within
a quotation within a quotation.
• Examples:
• “ I loved reading Miller’s ‘The Crucible’! exclaimed Tianna
Zondervan.
• My English teacher smiled proudly and said, “Did you hear
Tianna say, ‘I loved reading Miller’s “The Crucible” ’ ? ”
FOR LONG QUOTATIONS
• If more than one paragraph is quoted (as in a
report or research paper), quotation marks are
placed before each paragraph and at the end of
the last paragraph.
• Example:
“_____________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
_______________________________.
“_____________________________________________________________
___________________________.
“____________________________________________.”
FOR LONG QUOTATIONS CONT.
• Quotations which are more than four lines on a page
are usually set off from the rest of the paper by indenting
ten spaces from the left. No quotation marks are placed
either before or after the quoted material unless they
appear in the original copy.
• Example:
______________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
_________________________________.
______________________________________________________.
PLACEMENT OF PUNCTUATION
• Periods and commas are always placed inside
quotation marks.
• Example: “I don’t know,” said Albert. Albert said, “I don’t
know.”
• An exclamation point or a question mark is placed inside
the quotation marks when it punctuates the quotation; it
is placed outside when it punctuates the main sentence.
• Example: John said, “Mom, will you make me a
cheeseburger?” Did Ms. Setrum really say, “You can tour an
art museum on a computer”?
• Semicolons or colons are placed outside the quotation
marks.
• Example: First, I will read “Heaven is for Real”; then I will read
“To Kill a Mockingbird.”
SPECIAL WORDS
• Quotation marks also may be used (1) to set apart
a word which is being discussed, (2) to indicate that
a word is slang, or (3) to point out that a word or
phrase is being used in a special way.
• Examples:
• (1) New home computers will be able to store information on an
“optical disk,” which can hold 100,000 pages of text.
• (2) I’d say that group was really “hip.”
• (3) This electronic lure is really going to “light up” some fish’s life.
TO PUNCTUATE TITLES
• Quotation Marks are used to punctuate titles of
songs, poems, short stories, lectures, courses,
episodes of radio or television programs, chapters
of books, articles found in magazines, newspapers,
or encyclopedias.
• Examples:
• “Amazing Grace”
• “Max and the Three Little Bunnies”
• “Two more cases of Ebola Reported”
QUOTATION MARKS:
PUNCTUATING DIALOGUE
• Dialogue is always enclosed in
quotation marks.
• Why do we use Dialogue?
• Lets find out with a story!
EFFECTIVE DIALOGUE
• 1. Reveals the identity of the speaker.
• Different people talk differently, and it is up to the writer to make
sure that all the characters in a story don’t sound alike.
• 2. Is natural to the person speaking it.
• A teenager should sound like one. A person from a particular
region or country should speak in an authentic dialect.
• 3. Expresses relationships between people.
• A reader should be able to tell from the way that your
characters talk to each other how they feel about each other.
• 4. Reveals the conflict that the story will address and
develops that conflict.
• 5. Creates uncertainty and tension about the
outcome of the conflict.
PUNCTUATING DIALOGUE
• Indenting and Paragraphing:
• When writing dialogue, begin a new paragraph each time
the speaker changes. Indent the first line of each
paragraph just as you would any paragraph.
• Example:
“You don’t have to laugh,” Max said to him. “You
don’t have to laugh at all, see?”
“All right,” said George.
“So he thinks it’s all right.” Max turned to Al. “He thinks
it’s all right. That’s a good one.”
*You can add some description in your paragraphs of dialogue.
“All right,” said George. He wore a drowsy smirk and
looked down at his feet.
PUNCTUATING DIALOGUE
• Capitalization:
• If the dialogue tag follows the speaker’s words, then
capitalize just the first word of the sentence.
• Example:
• “The clock says twenty minutes past eight,” the teacher said to her
student.
PUNCTUATING DIALOGUE
• Capitalization:
• If the dialogue tag precedes the speaker’s words, capitalize
the first word of the sentence as well as the first word that
the speaker says. (Always capitalize the first word of a
direct quote.)
• Example:
The teacher said to her student, “The clock says twenty five
minutes past eight.”
PUNCTUATING DIALOGUE
• Capitalization:
• If the dialogue tag interrupts the speaker’s words in the
middle of a sentence, capitalize only the first word of the
sentence. You should NOT capitalize the first word of the
continuation of the speaker’s words.
• Example:
“I noticed him,” she said, “standing near the ticket booth.”
** If the dialogue tag interrupts the speaker’s words between two
complete sentences, the second sentence will, of course, begin
with a capital letter.
“I don’t know,” one of the men said. “What do you want to eat,
Al?”