Sage-Tips

Where do you put punctuation in dialogue?

For American English, periods and commas always go inside your quotation marks, and commas are used to separate your dialogue tag from the actual dialogue when it comes at the beginning of a sentence or in the middle.

Do commas and periods go inside or outside quotation marks?

Commas and periods always go inside the quotation marks in American English; dashes, colons, and semicolons almost always go outside the quotation marks; question marks and exclamation marks sometimes go inside, sometimes stay outside.

How do you punctuate a dialogue question?

In dialogue, treat question marks the same way you treat other punctuation marks; put them inside the quotation marks. “When are you leaving?” he asked. “Will you take care of this mail?” Liam held out the stack of envelopes.

How do you use dialogue correctly?

How to Format Dialogue in a Story

1. Use Quotation Marks to Indicate Spoken Word.
2. Dialogue Tags Stay Outside the Quotation Marks.
3. Use a Separate Sentence for Actions That Happen Before or After the Dialogue.
4. Use Single Quotes When Quoting Something Within the Dialogue.
5. Use a New Paragraph to Indicate a New Speaker.

How do you use dialogue in a sentence?

How it works:

1. Use a comma after the dialogue tag.
2. If the dialogue is the beginning of a sentence, capitalize the first letter.
3. End the dialogue with the appropriate punctuation (period, exclamation point, or question mark), but keep it INSIDE the quotation marks.

Where does the period go after a quote?

1. The final period or comma goes inside the quotation marks, even if it is not a part of the quoted material, unless the quotation is followed by a citation. If a citation in parentheses follows the quotation, the period follows the citation.

Do you italicize punctuation in dialogue?

Notice that quotation marks and other punctuation are used as if the character had spoken aloud. You may also use italics without quotation marks for direct internal dialogue. Example: I lied, Charles thought, but maybe she will forgive me.