Punctuating Dialogue

Dialogue punctuation refers to the use of specific punctuation marks to indicate spoken words in writing, such as quotation marks, commas, and question marks.

Quotation marks are used to enclose the exact words spoken by a character.

A question mark (?) is used at the end of a spoken question.

A statement in dialogue ends with a period (.) or a comma (,) if followed by a tag like 'he said'.

A dialogue tag is a phrase that attributes the spoken words to a character, such as 'he said' or 'she asked'.

Use a comma to separate the dialogue from the tag, and use a dash (—) to indicate the interruption.

The correct way is: 'Can I pet your dog?' she asked.

The correct way is: 'I did it!' she exclaimed.

The correct way is: 'I want to play outside,' I said.

The correct way is: 'Did you finish your chores?' Mom asked.