Quotation marks for direct speech

Quotation marks for direct speech

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Quotation Marks

There are two places where Quotation Marks are needed when writing direct speech.

"What's the matter, Sid?" said Ella.

You need to OPEN your quotation marks with a (") BEFORE the first word that is being spoken.

You need to CLOSE your quotation marks with a (") AFTER the last word that is being spoken.

"What's the matter, Sid?"

said Ella.

Imagine that quotation marks are like hands; they hold within them ONLY the words being spoken.

Punctuation:There are two places where other forms of punctuation ARE needed when writing dialogue.

"What's the matter, Sid?" said Ella.

You need to end the speaking with- a comma- a question mark, if it's a question- an exclamation mark, if it's an exclamation.

You need to finish the sentence with a period after the dialogue tag. (said Ella.)

Dialogue TagAfter the spoken words, a dialogue tag tells information about who is speaking the words and how it is being said.

"What's the matter, Sid?" said Ella.

Practice:Write what each giraffe is saying using the correct dialogue punctuation.

Good work!