โธ โThis is a sentence.โ
โธ โThis is a sentence with a dialogue tag at the end,โ she said.
โธ โThis,โ he said, โis a sentence split by a dialogue tag.โ
โธ โThis is a sentence,โ she said. โThis is a new sentence. New sentences are capitalized.โ
โธ โThis is a sentence followed by an action.โ He stood. โThey are separate sentences because he did not speak by standing.โ
โธ She said, โUse a comma to introduce dialogue. The quote is capitalized when the dialogue tag is at the beginning.โ
โธ โUse a comma when a dialogue tag follows a quote,โ he said.
โUnless there is a question mark?โ she asked.
โOr an exclamation point!โ he answered. โThe dialogue tag still remains uncapitalized because itโs not truly the end of the sentence.โ
โธ โPeriods and commas should be inside closing quotations.โ
โธ โHey!โ she shouted, โSometimes exclamation points are inside quotations.โ
However, if itโs not dialogue exclamation points can also be โoutsideโ!
โธ โDoes this apply to question marks too?โ he asked.
If itโs not dialogue, can question marks be โoutsideโ? (Yes, they can.)
โธ โThis applies to dashes too. Inside quotations dashes typically expressโโ
โInterruptionโ โ but there are situations dashes may be outside.
โธ โYouโll notice that exclamation marks, question marks, and dashes do not have a comma after them. Ellipses donโt have a comma after them eitherโฆโ she said.
โธ โMy teacher said, โUse single quotation marks when quoting within dialogue.โโ
โธ โUse paragraph breaks to indicate a new speaker,โ he said.
โThe readers will know itโs someone else speaking.โ
โธ โIf itโs the same speaker but different paragraph, keep the closing quotation off.
โThis shows itโs the same character continuing to speak.โ
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