Quotation marks are used to show that a character is speaking.
There are different punctuation rules for quotation marks depending on where the "he said" "she said" part is.
Watch Barack and Hillary explain quotation marks.
He said, "I can't wait for summer vacation." Use commas to separate 'he said' when it
Marvin shouted, "I can't wait for vacation!" begins the sentence. Make sure to end the
The girl asked, "When is summer vacation?" quotation with end marks.
"I can't wait for summer vacation, " he said. Use a comma instead of a period to end
"It's time to go home," Phillip reminded Sue. the quotation when the 'he said' ends
the sentence.
"When is summer vacation?" he asked. If the quotation is a question (?) or
"My house is on fire!" he exclaimed. exclamation (!) and 'he said' ends the
sentence, no change is needed.
"I can't wait for summer vacation," he said, "because I want to go surfing."
Notice the use of commas when the 'he said' interrupts the sentence.
Thoughts also go inside quotation marks. "What is going on here?" I thought to myself.
Titles of smaller works, or parts of a work, also go inside quotation marks.
Poems - "The Road Less Traveled" by Robert Frost
Songs - "Let It Be" by The Beatles
Chapters - "Finders Keepers" in Henry Huggins
Also essays, newspaper and magazine articles, page of a website, and an individual episode of a TV show
What do I do with other titles??? Click here.
Use a comic strip as quotation mark practice! The Peanuts cartoons are by Charles Schultz. The paragraphs have been adapted from his work.
"Where's my poncho?" shouted Charlie Brown as he looked in the closet. He began to shriek, "It's raining! I can't go to school in the rain without my poncho!" As the beads of sweat fell from his brow, Charlie continued to wonder, "Who took my poncho?!" As he looked outside in the pouring rain, he noticed his beagle, Snoopy, lying on the doghouse. Snoopy was nice and dry thanks to the poncho covering him!
Snoopy was happily sitting in the floor watching his favorite T.V. show. Suddenly Lucy came in and turned the television off. CLICK! Snoopy's smile faded as Lucy walked away. "No one was watching the T.V., so I turned it off!" she shouted. "No one..." Snoopy whispered with a sigh. He sat in the silent room alone.
Try writing paragraph versions of these comics. Don't forget that SAID IS DEAD!