Lead-in phrases offer context to set up quotes. Citations identify the source of the quote: the author and the page number. The author’s name appears in either the lead-in phrase or the citation, but not both. If a character is speaking, you always need to name the character in the lead-in phrase.
Rosaura says, “‘Quote’” (Heker 1). (If a character is speaking)
Heker writes, “Quote” (5). (If a character is not speaking)
When she arrives at the party, “Quote” (Heker 2). (To offer context)
If a quote ends with a period, move it to after the citation. If a quote ends with ? or !, leave it inside the quotation marks. Still end the sentence with a period.
Someone says, “Statement” (Author 40).
Someone asks, “Question?” (Author 40).
Someone shouts, “Exclamation!” (Author 40).
First put your own regular quotation marks around the entire quote: “ ” Then change the dialogue quotation marks into single quotation marks: ‘ ’
Herminia says, “‘I don’t like you going’” (Heker 1).
Rosaura is proud that “everyone called out to her, shouting ‘Me, me!’” (Heker 3).
Use brackets to change words in a quote, often for clarification.
Original: “She felt very sad” (Heker 1).
My quote: When Herminia says she can’t go to the party, “[Rosaura] felt very sad” (Heker 1).
Use brackets to change part of a word to integrate it more smoothly.
Original: “stretching out her arm” (Heker 5)
My quote: Thinking she will get a toy, Rosaura “stretch[es] out her arm” (Heker 5).
Use an ellipsis to remove unnecessary words from a quote.
Original: Herminia says, “‘I don't like you going,’ she told her. ‘It's a rich people’s party’” (Heker 1).
My quote: Herminia says, “‘I don't like you going,’ … ‘It's a rich people’s party’” (Heker 1).
Remember that a comma is not strong enough to separate two independent clauses. If your quote contains an independent clause (if it is a complete sentence), your lead-in phrase cannot be an independent clause.
Incorrect: Rosaura is asked to serve the orange juice, “She held it carefully and didn’t spill a single drop” (Heker 2).
Correct: When Rosaura is asked to serve the orange juice, “She held it carefully and didn’t spill a single drop” (Heker 2).
The first sentence above contains a comma splice because the lead-in and quote are both independent clauses. In the correct version, the addition of "When" makes the lead-in phrase a dependent clause.
Incorrect: Rosaura tells her mother how much it means to her, she says, “‘I'm going because it will be the most lovely party in the whole world’” (Heker 1).
Correct: Telling her mother how much it means to her, she says, “‘I'm going because it will be the most lovely party in the whole world’” (Heker 1).
Here are the two independent clauses in the first sentence above:
1. Rosaura tells her mother how much it means to her
2. she says, “‘I'm going because it will be the most lovely party in the whole world’” (Heker 1).
To correct the comma splice, I turned the first part of the sentence into a participial phrase (Telling her mother how much it means to her).
Basic lead-in phrases set context for a quote by naming the author or the character speaking. However, it can be helpful to give even more context than this. Here are three increasingly effective ways to integrate quotes.
The lead-in phrase identifies the author or the character speaking.
Heker writes, “She held it carefully and didn’t spill a single drop” (2).
Rosaura says, “I'm going because it will be the most lovely party in the whole world” (Heker 1).
An introductory phrase or dependent clause sets relevant context for the quote.
When Rosaura is asked to serve the orange juice, “She held it carefully and didn’t spill a single drop” (Heker 2).
Telling her mother how much it means to her, Rosaura says, “‘I'm going because it will be the most lovely party in the whole world’” (Heker 1).
Rosaura tries to convince her mother to let her go, saying, “‘I'm going because it will be the most lovely party in the whole world’” (Heker 1).
The quote is shortened to just the most important language. It is often embedded into the same sentence as the point or the beginning of the explanation.
Rosaura is proud that she “didn’t spill a single drop” of the orange juice while serving it to the other children (Heker 2).
Rosaura believes the party will be “‘the most lovely party in the whole world’” and insists on going (Heker 1).
Complete-sentence quotes are easiest to work with because it's always correct to introduce them with a basic lead-in (The author writes, / The character says,). When integrating a quote that is not a complete sentence on its own, we need to add our own words around it (outside the quotation marks) to make it part of a complete sentence.
A good check is reading the sentence with your quote out loud while ignoring the quotation marks. You should hear a grammatically correct normal-sounding sentence.
Quote: “‘because it will be the most lovely party in the whole world’” (Heker 1).
Correct Integration: Rosaura wants to go to the party “‘because it will be the most lovely party in the whole world’” (Heker 1).
Since it starts with "because," the above quote is a dependent clause. Dependent clauses need to be attached to independent clauses, so I added a logical independent clause before the quote.
Quote: "didn’t spill a single drop" (Heker 2).
Weak Integration: Rosaura "didn’t spill a single drop" (Heker 2).
Better Integration: Rosaura is proud that she "didn’t spill a single drop" (Heker 2).
The quote in this example is a predicate without a subject; I need to fill in WHO "didn't spill a single drop." Grammatically, adding the subject, Rosaura, completes the sentence. That doesn't really give context to the quote, though, which is the purpose of a lead-in phrase. My better integration added why it matters: Rosaura is proud that she "didn't spill a single drop" (Heker 2).
Quote: "'boisterous'" (Heker 2).
Correct Integration: Rosaura believes the other children are not allowed in the kitchen because they are more "'boisterous'" than she is (Heker 2).
Here, my quote is just one word. It happens to be an adjective, so I integrated it by using it in a sentence as an adjective.
Use a comma after a basic lead-in phrase, just as you would if you were writing dialogue for them: Rosaura says, “I’m going because Luciana is my friend” (1).
Use a comma after an introductory phrase or dependent clause before a quote because you ALWAYS need a comma after an introductory phrase or dependent clause.
Use grammatical common sense. Read the sentence as if the quotation marks weren’t there and only use a comma if it’s grammatically necessary.
Incorrect: Rosaura is proud that she, “didn’t spill a single drop” of the orange juice (2).
Read this without quotation marks to see why this sentence is wrong: Rosaura is proud that she, didn’t spill a single drop of the orange juice (2).
Correct: Rosaura is proud that she “didn’t spill a single drop” of the orange juice (2).