Punctuation of Quotations
When writing the actual words that another person said or wrote, or the spoken words of a character in a story, surround the actual words with quotation marks.
Former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt once said, "With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts."
Former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt once said,_"With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts."
Former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt once said, "With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts."
"With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts," said former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt.
"With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts,"_said former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt.
"With the new day," said former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt, "comes new strength and new thoughts."
"With the new day,"_said former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt, "comes new strength and new thoughts."
"With the new day," said former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt,_"comes new strength and new thoughts."
When a quotation appears only at the beginning of a sentence, with the phrase identifying the speaker or writer after it, there is either a comma, exclamation point, or question mark at the end of the quotation, inside the ending quotation marks -- never a period.
Never use periods at the end of a quotation that only appears at the beginning of a sentence, before a phrase identifying the speaker.
"I am really enjoying this movie," said Stan. CORRECT
Review of Punctuation of Quotations Rules
- Put quotation marks around the actual spoken or written words of another real person or the spoken words of a character in a story.
- Put commas and ending punctuation inside the quotation marks.
- Separate quotations from phrases identifying the speaker with a comma (or sometimes, with an exclamation point or question mark) and a space, whether those phrases come before a quotation, after a quotation, or in the middle, between two parts of a quotation.
5th Grade Writing - Punctuation Lesson