Writing and Punctuating Dialogue

Dialogue

Use quotation marks around the words that are spoken.

Use commas to separate the tag from the spoken words.

Multiple Select

Choose the properly punctuated version(s).

• "Don't forget to finish your story." Said Mrs. Carter.

• "Don't forget to finish your story!" exclaimed Mrs. Carter.

• "Don't forget to finish your story," said Mrs. Carter.

• Mrs. Carter said, "Don't forget to finish your story."

Dialogue Tags

Dialogue tags are used to tell who said the words and how

Tags can come before or after a character speaks

"I love dialogue," said Mr. Overstreet.

Mr. Overstreet said, "I love dialogue."

"My birthday is next Friday," exclaimed Ada.

After the quotation when the quotation would normally end with a period and come before the speaker.

Marcus said, "I hope we win our basketball game tomorrow."

After the dialogue word when the quotation comes after the speaker.

When do you use a comma?

"I hope we win our game tomorrow," Marcus said. "They're one of the best teams in the league."

Multiple Choice

Choose the correctly punctuated sentence.

• "Hi," Shelly replied, "my name is Shelly Rutt."
• "Hi," Shelly replied "My name is Shelly Rutt".

• "Hi," Shelly replied "my name is Shelly Rutt."

Action Beats

Sometimes we use actions instead of speech words throughout our dialogue. These are called action beats.
Examples:
Greg nodded.
She sighed.
He shook his head.
She glanced around the room.
They made eye contact.
Remember that actions aren’t dialogue tags. As such, they need to be formatted as separate sentences with a capital letter.

“I forgot your name. Sorry.” He shrugged.

She laughed. “It’s not a big deal.”

Actions that interrupt dialogue are formatted with em dashes outside the dialogue without commas.

“I forgot your name, so”—he shrugged—“sorry about that.”

Multiple Select

Select the properly punctuated option(s).

• "I wanted him to believe me!" She dissolved into tears.

• "I wanted him to believe me." She dissolved into tears.

• "I wanted him to believe me," she dissolved into tears.

Action Beats vs. Dialogue Tags

Action
“I forgot your name. Sorry.” He shrugged.

She laughed. “It’s not a big deal.”

“I forgot your name, so”—he shrugged—“sorry about that.”

Speech

“I forgot your name. Sorry,” he said.

She stated, “It’s not a big deal.”

“I forgot your name, so,” he said, “sorry about that.”

Note that action beats are treated as separate sentences, so the capitalization will be different.

Multiple Choice

Choose the correct way to write the sentence below.

The police officer told us we were speeding.

• The police officer told us "we were speeding."

• The police officer told us, "we were speeding".

• The police officer told, "us we were speeding."

• The sentence is correct as it is written.

Multiple Choice

Choose the properly punctuated option.

• "We missed you during practice yesterday." The quarterback playfully punched George's arm.

• "We missed you during practice yesterday," the quarterback playfully punched George's arm.

Multiple Choice

Choose the correctly punctuated sentence.

• "So, you think I'm an idiot," asked Jimmy?

• "So, you think I'm an idiot?" asked Jimmy.

• "So, you think I'm an idiot"? asked Jimmy.

• "So you think I'm an idiot? asked Jimmy?"

Multiple Choice

Which sentence is punctuated correctly?

• "Watch out for the truck" Daniel screamed with terror!

• "Watch out for the truck"! Daniel screamed with terror.

• "Watch out for the truck," Daniel screamed with terror!

• "Watch out for the truck!" Daniel screamed with terror.

Multiple Choice

If you don't get off my lawn said the old man you're going to be sorry.

• "If you don't get off my lawn," said the old man. "You're going to be sorry."

• "If you don't get off my lawn," said the old man, "You're going to be sorry."

• "If you don't get off my lawn," said the old man, "you're going to be sorry."

• "If you don't get off my lawn" said the old man, "you're going to be sorry".

Multiple Choice

Choose the correct way to write the sentence below.

I pulled you over because you were speeding explained the police officer.

• "I pulled you over because you were speeding," explained the police officer.

• "I pulled you over because you were speeding explained the police officer."

• "I pulled you over because you were speeding." Explained the police officer.

• The sentence is correct as it is written.

Multiple Choice

Choose the sentence that is written correctly.

• "I love this book." Sarah exclaimed!

• "I love this book!" exclaimed Sarah.

• "I love this book"! exclaimed Sarah.

• "I love this book" exclaimed Sarah.

Multiple Choice

Choose the sentence that is written correctly.

• "I can't go to the party." Maya shrieked. "I'm failing all my classes."

• "I can't go to the party," Maya cried! "I'm failing all my classes."

• "I can't go to the party!" Maya cried. "I'm failing all my classes."

• "I can't go to the party"! Maya cried. I'm failing all my classes".

Multiple Choice

Choose the sentence that is written correctly.

• "What time is the meeting?" Jane asked.

• "What time is the meeting," Jane asked?

• "What time is the meeting"? Jane asked.

Multiple Choice

Choose the sentence that is written correctly.

• "Put your phones away," said Mrs. Carter, "and head to Schoology."

• "Put your phones away." said Mrs. Carter. "And head to Schoology."

• "Put your phones away," said Mrs. Carter. "and head to Schoology."

• "Put your phones away," Said Mrs. Carter, "and head to Schoology."

Multiple Choice

Choose the sentence that is written correctly.

• "Do you remember me?" Shelley asked.

  "Of course I do," Zack responded.

• "Do you remember me?" Shelley asked, "Of course I do," Zack responded.

• "Do you remember me." Shelley asked?

  "Of course I do." Zack responded.

Multiple Choice

Choose the sentence that is written correctly.

• Dr. Frazier said, "that none of us are allowed to eat in class."

• Dr. Frazier said that none of us are allowed to eat in class.

• Dr. Frazier said "that none of us are allowed to eat in class".

• Dr. Frazier said that "none of us are allowed to eat in class."