1. QUOTATION MARKS

2.  “ I’m taking the test tomorrow, ” stated Ryan.  Cindy asked, “ When do we get our ID cards? ”  “ I hope, ” said Dan, “ that it doesn’t rain during the picnic. ”  “ The date is set, ” declared Bob. “ We can’t change it. ” Use quotation marks to enclose a direct quotation—a person’s exact words.

3.  Jan complained that her legs hurt from jogging.  The teacher explained that the test would take the entire class period.  Sam asked if we were going to work on the project after school. Do not use quotation marks to enclose an indirect quotation—a rewording of a person’s exact words.

4. A directly quoted sentence begins with a capital letter.  “P lease sign in when you get to the Media Center, ” reminded the teacher.  Her father asked, “W hy did you buy another purse? ”  “W e need to finish our project this week! ” his partner exclaimed. Direct Quotations and Capitalization

5. Capitalize a directly quoted remark even if the remark is not a complete sentence—frequently used in written dialogue.  Mr. Smith answered, “O n Friday, of course. ”  “Y es, ” she agreed. Direct Quotations and Capitalization

6. When an interrupting expression divides a quoted sentence into two parts, the second part begins with a lowercase letter.  “I ’m not sure, ” remarked Annette, “ whether I’ll be able to attend the meeting. ”  “S he drove over one hundred miles, ” he stated, “ to see you on your birthday. ” Direct Quotations and Capitalization

7. If the first and second parts of a direct quote are complete sentences, a period follows the interrupting expression, and the second part begins with a capital letter.  “H er street address is 123 Fourth Street, ” said Julia. “D id you know that? ”  “W here have you been, Jim? ” asked Lee. “T he bus is leaving. ” Direct Quotations and Capitalization

8. When a direct quotation of two or more sentences by the same speaker is not divided, only one set of quotation marks is used.  Tanya suggested, “L et’s donate the profits from the car wash to Operation Christmas Child. I t provides a shoebox of gifts to children in developing countries who face difficult circumstances such as disease, poverty, famine, or war. ” Direct Quotations and Capitalization

9. A direct quote is set off from the rest of the sentence by a comma, question mark, or exclamation point, but not a period.  “ Your projects are due on November 17,” reminded Ms. Snader.  “ On what day is your 16 th birthday ?” asked her friend.  “ You forgot? You’d better get me a good present !” she exclaimed. Direct Quotations and Punctuation

10. Commas and periods are always placed inside the quotation marks.  “ The concert tickets are sold out,” Mary said, “ and I had really wanted to go.”  “ The ad says that it’s for health and relaxation,” she stated. Direct Quotations and Punctuation

11. Colons and semicolons are placed outside the closing quotation marks.  The following students have been named “most likely to succeed ”: Jane Doe and Sam Smith.  He quoted a Cameroonian proverb, “By trying often, the monkey learns to jump from the tree ”; it reminded me of the expression “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” Direct Quotations and Punctuation

12. A question mark or exclamation point is placed inside the quotation marks if the quotation itself is a question or exclamation.  “What time is the game tomorrow ?” Maria asked.  While I was at bat, Sam kept yelling, “Hit it over the fence !” Direct Quotations and Punctuation

13. A question mark or exclamation point is placed outside the quotation marks when the entire sentence is a question or exclamation and not the direct quotation.  Why did you shout, “It doesn’t matter ”?  Don’t say, “I’d rather not ”! Direct Quotations and Punctuation

14. When both the sentence and the quotation at the end of the sentence are questions or exclamations, only one question mark or exclamation point is used. It is placed inside the quotation marks.  Who asked, “ What time is it ?” Direct Quotations and Punctuation

15. When a quoted passage consists of more than one paragraph, put quotation marks at the beginning of each paragraph and at the end of the entire passage. Do not put quotation marks after every paragraph. “ Now, this car is one of our hottest sellers. It has bucket seats, a CD player, and alloy wheels. “ It’s also one of the safest cars on the road because of its heavy suspension and antilock brake system. It gets good gas mileage, too. “ All in all, I think this would be the perfect car for you. ” Direct Quotations and Punctuation

16. When writing dialogue (a conversation), begin a new paragraph every time the speaker changes, and enclose each speaker’s words in quotation marks. A man of Merv, well known as the home of complicated thinkers, ran shouting one night through the city’s streets. “Thief, Thief!” he cried. The people surrounded him, and when he was a little calmer, asked: “Where was the thief?” “In my house.” “Did you see him?” “No.” from “The Thief” by Niamat Khan Quotation Marks and Dialogue

17. Use quotation marks to enclose titles (including subtitles) of short works.  SHORT STORIES— “The Gift of the Magi”  POEMS— “In Memory of Richi”  ESSAYS/ARTICLES— “The 9/11 Disappeareds”  SONGS— “Blessed Be the Tie That Binds”  TV EPISODES— The Walking Dead “Slabtown”  CHAPTERS— Chapter 23 “Punctuation: Semicolons and Colons” Quotation Marks and Titles

18. Use single quotation marks to enclose a quotation or title within a quotation.  Bob said, “Dad yelled, ‘ No way! ’ ”  Megan asked, “Did you like my rendition of ‘ America the Beautiful ’ ?” Single Quotation Marks

19. Use quotation marks to enclose slang words, technical terms, and unusual uses of words.  My best friend said my new shoes look very “ fly. ”  Is there now a computer that can perform more than fifteen “ gigaflops ” (that is, fifteen billion operations) a second?  Fire burns oxygen quickly; my chemistry teacher says flame is a “ gas-guzzler. ” Single Quotation Marks