Quotation Marks in Dialogue

Rules for Quotation Marks in Dialogue

Quotation marks are punctuation marks that are used to separate the exact words spoken or written by another person from the rest of a sentence. Depending on where these quoted words appear in the sentence, the way in which the sentence is punctuated will differ.

Examples of Quotation Marks in Dialogue

Some examples of quotation marks used to indicate dialogue would be the following:

Quoted text appearing at the end of a sentence:

Davis said, “I am too sick to go to school today.”

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Quoted text appearing at the beginning of a sentence:

“Don’t forget to study for tomorrow’s vocabulary quiz,” Mr. Byron warned.

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Quoted text appearing at the beginning of a sentence with a question or exclamation:

“What are you writing your book report about?” Kenton asked.

“I am so excited to go to Niagara Falls!” Sebine shouted.

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Quoted text interrupted by narration:

“Be careful!” Tyler exclaimed. “There are Legos on the floor over there.”

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