Download Punctuating Dialogue

Punctuating Dialogue
Original Presentation by: Arlene Rodríguez
Adapted by: Prof. Victor M. Vázquez
Rules
1. Quotation marks should go at the
beginning and the end of spoken words.
2. The first letter of a quote should always be
capitalized. If the quote is interrupted, by
a tag line –the words that identify the
speaker – (Ex. said José), the
continuation is not capitalized.
Example:
“My family loves sushi,” said José, “but
only if it has shrimp and avocado.”
(Notice the commas after”sushi and José.)
Rule:
However, a new sentence after the
tag line should also be capitalized.
Example:
“We also enjoy Italian pastas,”
José continued. “On the other hand,
we do not care for fast foods.”
(Notice the period after continued. )
Tag Lines
Tag lines provide two bits of important
information:
1. Who is speaking or spoke. (a noun or pronoun)
2. How they spoke ( a verb with possible modifiers).
Examples:
Elena responded.
My brother said sadly,
they yelled simultaneously.
asked Raymond.
Babar sang as he ascended in the balloon.
Rules (cont.)
Commas and periods which are part of a quote
always go before the closing quotation marks.
Example:
“Many fast foods have little nutritional value,”
commented María, “but since they are inexpensive,
many people consume them.”
(Notice the comma and closing quotation marks after
the word value. Also note the period and closing
quotation marks after the word them.)
Once again: Keep final commas
and periods inside the quotation
marks.
“ I do not know,” yelled Albert.
Albert yelled, “I do not know.”
Which one below is correct?
The teacher screamed, “Everyone
needs to line up at the door”.
“Everyone needs to line up at the
door,” the teacher screamed.
Rule:
Question marks (?) and
exclamation points (!) go
before closing quotation
marks if they are part of
the quote or spoken
words.
Examples:
“Fred, I want you to take that new truck back
to the dealership,” Mary snarled, “right now!”
“No way,” Fred paused, “ that I can return it. I
lost the receipt.”
“What?” Mary retorted, “I can’t believe it!”
Then she began to cry.
(Notice the order of the exclamation point and closing quotation
marks after the words right now and I can’t believe it And
note the order of the question mark and closing quotation
marks after the word What.
An uninterrupted speech needs
quotation marks only at the
beginning and the end.
WHICH ONE IS CORRECT?
“My mother was right. I never should
have married you. You only think of
yourself and I’m always the one who has to
suffer.”
“Oh, cry me a river.” ” I’m the one who
came out on the losing end of this
marriage!” “Why didn’t you listen to your
mother?”
RULE: Start a new paragraph
(indent) each time the speaker
changes.
“You can be so cruel some times!”
Mary wailed.
“Oh I suppose you’ll go crying to
your mother now,” Fred sighed. He
was sorry he hurt Mary but he felt so
confused.
Mary continued to sob. “At least
she understands me.”
When only two people are talking you
don’t have to repeat their names.
“I understand how you feel, alright?”
“You do?” asked Mary.
“Aw, you know I do. It’s just that
sometimes I lose my head.”
“So you still care about me? I was
thinking this was over for us.”
“Of course, I care about you, Sweetie.”
“So you’ll take the truck back?”
“Over my dead body!”
Quote inside of a quote
Use single quotation marks for quotes within quotes.
Examples:
Jason told us, "Danea said, ‘Let’s go to the
beach.’ "
Leandra laughed, “I love it when my mom
announces, ‘Supper time’ ”
(Notice the triple closing quotation marks after the
words beach and Supper time.)
Exclamations and Questions
As mentioned above, an exclamation point or
question mark is placed inside the quotation marks
when it punctuates the quotation. It is placed outside
when it punctuates the main sentence.
For example:
I was surprised when he asked, “That won’t be
a problem for you, will it?”
Did the teacher really say, “Finish by
tomorrow”?
(Notice the placement of the question marks in
relation to the quotation marks.)
Exclamations and Questions
When using exclamation points and question marks
in your dialogue be sure to properly punctuate the
words following the marks. If the sentence continues
and the following words are not proper nouns then
you DO NOT capitalize the next word.
Examples:
“Did you hear Mr. Marcoux?” asked Esteban.
“Watch out!” warned Margie.
“No homework tonight!” Mrs. Tavárez asserted.
(Notice the words asked, warned and Mrs.)
Avoid overusing the past tense verb “said” when
writing dialogue. What other verbs can be used to
develop written dialogue? (There are probably more
than 100 verbs that could be used.)
Examples:
reported
whispered
begged
mumbled
enunciated
Punctuate the following sentences.
1. when will you go the hospital Nora
asked Willie
2. At 9:00 he answered unless you
want to go earlier
3. I need to go right now I have an
emergency she yelled frantically.
4. The coach just now told us after last
week’s game against Philippines
Barea said about himself I am the
best