Name: ______Date: ______Block: ______
Rules for Writing Dialogue
1. Begin all quotations with a capital letter.
Example:"We want some ice cream," said Ashley.
2. If the quote comes before the person who spoke and tells something, place a comma after the quote, before the closing quotation mark.
Example:"The world is a very big place with seven continents and four oceans," said the teacher.
3. If the quote comes after the person who spoke and tells something, place the comma after the person who spoke, before the opening quotation mark.
Example:Chad explained, "We live on the continent of North America."
4. If the quote comes before the person who spoke and asks something, place the question mark after the quote, before the closing quotation mark.
Example:"Is North America a large continent?" Jane asked.
5. If the quote comes after the person who spoke and asks something, place the question mark after the quote, before the closing quotation mark.
Example:Mr. Smith responded, "Why don't you look it up?"
6. If the quote comes before the person who spoke and shows strong emotion, place the exclamation mark after the quote, before the closing quotation mark.
Example:"I know, I know!" James exclaimed.
7. If the quote comes after the person who spoke and shows strong emotion, place the exclamation mark after the quote, before the closing quotation mark.
Example:Mary interrupted excitedly, "I know that North America is the third largest continent!"
8. A sentence in a dialogue separated by the person who spoke is called a split quotation. Begin the first part of a split quotation with a capital letter, and end with a comma. Begin the second part of a split quotation with a lower case letter. Enclose both parts of the split quotation with quotation marks.
Example:"Ladies and gentlemen," said the teacher, "tomorrow we will use the computer and learn more about continents."
9. Remember to begin a new paragraph and indent when a different person speaks in the dialogue.
Example:"Ask him!" shrieked Filch, turning his blotched and tearstained face to Harry.
"No second year could have done this," said Dumbledore firmly. "It would take Dark Magic of the most advanced..."
"He did it, he did it!" Filch spat, his pouchy face purpling. "You saw what he wrote on the wall!”
10. An indirect quotation is a paraphrase of someone’s words, and therefore does not need quotation marks.
Example:George Washington Carver believed that the world takes notice when your everyday actions are done extraordinarily.
The above indirect quotation is a paraphrase, or summary, of Carver’s exact words, or quotation (which you’ll note, does use quotation marks):
In the words of George Washington Carver, “When you do the common things in life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world.”
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