βΈ βThis is a sentence.β
βΈ βThis is a sentence with a dialogue tag at the end,β she said.
βΈ βThis,β he said, βis a sentence split by a dialogue tag.β
βΈ βThis is a sentence,β she said. βThis is a new sentence. New sentences are capitalized.β
βΈ βThis is a sentence followed by an action.β He stood. βThey are separate sentences because he did not speak by standing.β
βΈ She said, βUse a comma to introduce dialogue. The quote is capitalized when the dialogue tag is at the beginning.β
βΈ βUse a comma when a dialogue tag follows a quote,β he said.
βUnless there is a question mark?β she asked.
βOr an exclamation point!β he answered. βThe dialogue tag still remains uncapitalized because itβs not truly the end of the sentence.β
βΈ βPeriods and commas should be inside closing quotations.β
βΈ βHey!β she shouted, βSometimes exclamation points are inside quotations.β
However, if itβs not dialogue exclamation points can also be βoutsideβ!
βΈ βDoes this apply to question marks too?β he asked.
If itβs not dialogue, can question marks be βoutsideβ? (Yes, they can.)
βΈ βThis applies to dashes too. Inside quotations dashes typically expressββ
βInterruptionβ β but there are situations dashes may be outside.
βΈ βYouβll notice that exclamation marks, question marks, and dashes do not have a comma after them. Ellipses donβt have a comma after them eitherβ¦β she said.
βΈ βMy teacher said, βUse single quotation marks when quoting within dialogue.ββ
βΈ βUse paragraph breaks to indicate a new speaker,β he said.
βThe readers will know itβs someone else speaking.β
βΈ βIf itβs the same speaker but different paragraph, keep the closing quotation off.
βThis shows itβs the same character continuing to speak.β
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