With dialogue, punctuation goes inside the quotation marks With dialogue, punctuation goes inside the quotation marks. Put a comma after the quote inside the quotation marks before the tag. “Hoarding is more common than people think,” said the local fire chief.

If the quote begins a new sentence, use a capital letter at the beginning of the quote, with a comma after the tag. According to a neighbor, “The house looked normal from the outside, but when they opened the front door, it was a different story.”

If the quote is interrupted with a tag, use commas on both sides of the tag and and two sets of quotation marks. “There was so much stuff inside,” said another neighbor, “it was hard to understand how they could live there.”

If the whole sentence is a question, the question mark goes on the outside of the quotation mark. If only the quoted material is a question, the question mark goes inside the quotation mark. Who said, “economic status has nothing to do with hoarding behaviors”? She asked, “Can any neighborhood have hoarders?”

When an in-text citation is required, punctuation goes on the outside of the citation instead of inside the quotation. In addition to being a fire hazard, “hoarding strains community agency fiscal and personnel resources” (Bratiotis 246).

If there is a quote within a quote, use a single quotation mark for the internal quote. “Many people who end up as compulsive hoarders begin collecting one type of item. ‘However, collecting isn’t a sign of illness,’ Liptzin said” (Mitchell 51).

When using a partial quote preceded by paraphrase, do not use a comma and do not capitalize the first letter of the quote. Hoarders develop the problem slowly, but “signs of the disease do surface decades before it becomes an issue” (Mitchell 51).

Do not use quotation marks when paraphrasing. According to the National Fire Protection Association, firefighters need to be educated on the hazards of entering a hoarder’s house (Roberts 2).

Use quotation marks around words that are unique to the author when paraphrasing. Balint makes a distinction between the extremes of how people react to their possessions, defined as “ocnophiles” and “philobates” (58).

Choose the sentence with the correct punctuation. a. “Hoarding,” said Dr. Clark, “is a symptom of a psychological disorder.” b. “Hoarding” said Dr. Clark “is a symptom of a psychological disorder.”

Correct Answer 1. a. “Hoarding,” said Dr. Clark, “is a symptom of a psychological disorder.” b. “Hoarding” said Dr. Clark “is a symptom of a psychological disorder.”

Choose the sentence with the correct punctuation. a. Family members may ask, “What can we do to help”? b. Family members may ask, “What can we do to help?”

Correct Answer a. Family members may ask, “What can we do to help”? b. Family members may ask, “What can we do to help?”

Choose the sentence with the correct punctuation. 1. a. “Cats are the most likely animal to be hoarded.” (Williams 35) b. “Cats are the most likely animal to be hoarded” (Williams 35).

Correct Answer 1. a. “Cats are the most likely animal to be hoarded.” (Williams 35) b. “Cats are the most likely animal to be hoarded” (Williams 35).

Choose the sentence with the correct punctuation. a. Sometimes hoarders keep things they no longer use, for “fear of needing them later” (Guillard and Pinson 61). b. Sometimes hoarders keep things they no longer use, for, “fear of needing them later” (Guillard and Pinson 61).

Correct Answer a. Sometimes hoarders keep things they no longer use, for “fear of needing them later” (Guillard and Pinson 61). b. Sometimes hoarders keep things they no longer use, for, “fear of needing them later” (Guillard and Pinson 61).

Choose the sentence with the correct punctuation. a. “Very often, this fear stems from a very real past experience. Adrienne says, “You know, when you’ve lived through the war, you quickly learn to keep everything” (Guillard and Pinson 61). b. “Very often, this fear stems from a very real past experience. Adrienne says, ‘You know, when you’ve lived through the war, you quickly learn to keep everything’ ”(Guillard and Pinson 61).

Correct Answer a. “Very often, this fear stems from a very real past experience. Adrienne says, “You know, when you’ve lived through the war, you quickly learn to keep everything” (Guillard and Pinson 61). b. “Very often, this fear stems from a very real past experience. Adrienne says, ‘You know, when you’ve lived through the war, you quickly learn to keep everything’ ”(Guillard and Pinson 61).

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