English 9—Quotations Lesson

Lesson 1—Punctuation—Quotation Marks

**Use quotations around the exact words of a speaker.**

**If there is not a ? or ! inside direct quote, place a comma to separate who said it either after who said it or inside comma before someone said it.

**Periods and commas go INSIDE THE QUOTE---not outside; however, do not put a period inside quote if there is a speaker after. Look at the examples above.

**Always capitalize the first word in a direct quote.

Example 1--Jamie said, "I love my new shoes."

Example 2--"I love my new shoes," said Jamie.

PRACTICE

1. “I wish the elections were over,” said Fred.

2. “Will they finish this week?” asked Frida.

3. Willard added, “It is becoming a joke.”

4. “We can now see that every vote counts,” concluded Sara.

5. “Yes, we know that we should vote every time,” commented Jeff.

Lesson 2—Punctuation—Quotation Marks

**Use quotation marks around the exact words of a speaker but not around interruptions such as said Jack or Jim replied.

**Use ONLY one set of “” when someone is speaking for more than one consecutive line without any interruptions.

1. “We will be in town tomorrow night. Don’t wait up. We will come by the next day,” said Jeanne.

2. “We want you to stay with us,” answered Barbara. “We’ll meet you at the station.”

3. “Okay,” replied Chris, “bring the car around.”

4. “Are the girls ready to go?” asked Ann. “They need to leave now.”

5. “Yes,” replied Ila, “that play was really enjoyable.”

Lesson 3 Punctuation—Quotation Marks

Indirect quotes are not someone directly talking to someone else; therefore, they do not need “”. Many of these indirect quotes begin with the word that without any punctuation such as commas to indicate a direct quotation is being stated.

Properly punctuate the following sentences. Identify which ones do not need “” because they are indirect quotes.

1. James stated that he had won the race.

2. Richard said, “I was in second place until I fell.”

3. Mom said that she was worried when she saw it happen.

4. Sue said, “That was too bad.”

5. “I hope that you had fun, anyway,” said his dad.

Lesson 4—Begin a new paragraph with each change of speaker in dialogue.

1.

“Knock on the door. I will be right behind you,” said John.

“I am afraid,” said James. “You are bigger and older so you knock.”

“I will do it. Why are you worried about it? It is just Halloween,” interrupted Matthew, “and there is nothing spooky about this house.”

2.

Chantelle said, “I never get to be the mother when we play.”

“You can be the mother today,” replied Hayley.

“When will I get to be the mother?” asked Chantelle.

“You are too little.” (WHO IS THE SPEAKER HERE?--HOW DO YOU KNOW?)

Tell me what to do for the following dialogue.

3.

“We are going to have a new baby,” said Ann.

“I hope it is a boy, said Chris. We need a boy in the family.”

“I want it to be a girl,” remarked Rebecca.

“I don’t care,” said Allison. “I just hope it hurries up.”

4.

“Do you want to play on the computer with me, Mark?” asked Todd.

“I am too little,” said Mark.

“Mommy won’t let me. Todd, you wouldn’t let him play very much if he could, stated Stephanie. Todd said, I am going to change and let him now.