Use of Quotation Marks

Hi all. Vis a vis, improving your dialogue writing. This is basic but you might not know one aspect or another of the proper use of quote marks. Here are some basic rules.

• When quoting, it is important to remember that periods and commas are placed
within the quotation mark. i.e.
 

“Basic skills learned in elementary school are vital.”

“Basic skills learned in elementary school are vital,” researchers argued.
 

• However, colons and semicolons go outside of the quotation marks.

In elementary school, we learn “basic skills”: reading, writing, and math.
 

Here, the words “basic skills” are being emphasized and go in the double quotation marks. Since the mark is a colon, it is placed outside the quotation marks.
 

• Other forms of punctuation such as dashes (—), question marks (?), and exclamation
points (!) go inside the quotation marks only if they are part of the quote. Do not use any other punctuation within the quote after that mark.
 

Incorrect: “Leave now!,” Jessica yelled.
(You do not need two forms of punctuation within the quotation marks.)
 

Correct: “Leave now!” Jessica yelled.
 

• If the dash, question mark, or exclamation point is not part of the quote, place it
on the outside of the quotation marks.

I cannot believe that woman called me an “idiot”!

 
Who wrote “Wuthering Heights”?

• Capitalize the first letter of a direct quote when the quoted material is a complete sentence.

Mr. Johnson, who was working in his field that morning, said, "The alien spaceship appeared right before my own two eyes."

• Do not use a capital letter when the quoted material is a fragment or only a piece of the original material's complete sentence.

Although Mr. Johnson has seen odd happenings on the farm, he stated that the spaceship "certainly takes the cake" when it comes to unexplainable activity.

If a direct quotation is interrupted mid-sentence, do not capitalize the second part of the quotation.

"I didn't see an actual alien being," Mr. Johnson said, "but I sure wish I had."