Quotation Punctuation

Use quotation marks when giving a speaker’s exact words. “Sometimes I like to enhance my eyebrows with fuzzy caterpillars,” Hillary declared. Everybody smile! said Mom.

A direct quotation usually begins with a capital letter. Esther questioned, “Why doesn’t Super Glue stick to the inside of the tube?” I asked, “where is the closest 7-11?”

Commas and periods always go inside of closing quotation marks. “A duck with udders,” muttered Cubby, “would be utterly ridiculous.” “Mike won the race”, she told me, “but the team lost the meet”.

When a speaker tag or other types of words interrupt a quoted sentence punctuate the sentence in the following way: Enclose the first part of the sentence in quotation marks Place a comma before and after the interrupting words. Enclose the second part of the sentence in quotation marks. Begin the second part of the sentence with a lowercase letter. “I consider myself very lucky,” said Sally Mae. “That I have good hair every day.” “I consider myself very lucky,” said Sally Mae, “that I have good hair every day.”

When a speaker tag or another type of expression comes at the end of a quoted sentence, punctuate the sentence in the following way. Enclose the directly quoted sentence in quotation marks. Put a comma, not a period, at the end of the directly quoted sentence. Place a period after the tag. Begin the next sentence with a capital letter. “A bird dropping landed in my eye,” exclaimed Tyson. “I’m certainly glad that hippopotami don’t fly.” “A bird dropping landed in my eye,” exclaimed Tyson, “I’m certainly glad that hippopotami don’t fly.”

If a direct quotation includes several uninterrupted sentences, place quotation marks only at the beginning and end of the quote, not around every sentence. Reginald sputtered, “My favorite class is Handcrafts 101. Yesterday the class made potholders out of cat fur. Last week we carved figures out of processed meats.” Tommy said, “I love baseball.” “I root for the Orioles.” “They never win.”

Place single quotation marks around a quote inside a quote. “My favorite short story is ‘The Cats of Amarillo’ by Edgar A. Poe,” announced Moby. “My mom will yell, “Clean your room!” when I get home,” John told me.

In dialogue, begin a new paragraph every time the speaker changes. If a direct quotation is several paragraphs long from one speaker, put quotation marks at the beginning of each paragraph and at the end of the quote. Don’t place closing quotation marks at the end of each paragraph.