How to Use Quotation Marks in Dialog

Poor punctuation can cause you to easily lose points on an assignment. This is why it is very important to make sure each quotation mark is correctly employed. Only surround the direct quote - the part that is actually said - with double quotation marks. Also, remember to put an end quote after each beginning quote. The process is easy to learn! In fact, you'll be using quotation marks correctly in no time!

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Paper
• Pencil

1. Learn the definition of a direct quote. A direct quote is the exact words that a character or person says. The following is an example of a direct quote: "Tell me a story," said the little girl. If you did not want to use a direct quote, you would write: The little girl asked her mom to tell her a story.

2. Enclose a direct quote between a pair of double quotation marks. The first quotation marks should be placed at the beginning of the quote. The second should be placed after the punctuation mark that closes the sentence. For example, He sneered and said "this example is pretty uninspired."

3. Use quotation marks to enclose a fragmented quote within a larger sentence. For example: He said the poor quality of his writing owed largely to his "abominable sleeping habits."

4. Enclose each multiple direct quotes between a pair of double quotation marks. For example, "It may be uninspired," grumbled the frustrated writer, "but let's see you do any better!"

5. Use a single quotation mark if a character is quoting another character, book, or saying. A single quotation indicates a quote within a quote. Notice that you still need to use double quotation markks around the whole line of dialog. For example, "The masked woman told me the password was 'Step back, Jack','" John whispered.

6. For long, repeated passages of dialog, you can use a beginning quote with no end quote. For example, if a character is telling a whole story, begin every paragraph with a double quote, but do not put one at the end.

Tips & Warnings

• Always indent dialog.
• Start a new paragraph for every line of dialog.

Resources

• Dialog Guidelines

Who Can Help Sponsored

• Earn your degree from industry experts at University of Phoenix. Take the next step in your career.

[jlynnekennedy]

on 9/9/2009 #5 is incorrect. "The masked woman told me the password was 'Step back, Jack','" John whispered.
It should read: "The masked woman told me the password was 'Step back, Jack,'" John whispered.
There should not be a single quotation mark inside the comma. Quotation marks should be outside the comma, period, question or exclamation marks.