Skip to main content

Inside the End Quotes by Mary Deal



Much confusion exists about what goes inside or outside of the end quotes in dialogue.

To digress briefly, the only sentences that should be included in quotation marks are something that someone said. Quotes are used a lot to set off passages taken from other writing. Though allowed, quotation marks are being over-used to draw attention to words and phrases other than dialogue. Considering dialogue, quotes can also be used to set off a repeated portion of something another person said. An example:

~ His response to revealing the secret was that it was “deep and dark.”

Now consider this sentence:

~ San Francisco is known as “The City by the Bay.”

In the examples with quotation marks, I would immediately wonder who said that. Yet, it isn’t written as dialogue. The correct way to set off a title or information other than dialogue is to present it in italics.

San Francisco is known as The City by the Bay.

Having clarified that, what follows is the correct positioning of the end quotes on various forms of dialogue.

All punctuation, whether statement, question or exclamation, belongs inside the end quotes.

“Where did you go?” she asked.

In the above sentence, the question mark must follow the question, then the end quotes. Even though we use a question mark instead of a comma, the sentence continues with she asked.

“We went to the movie first.”

“I don’t believe it!”

“I told you, I did it,” she said.

Notice in the last example above that the sentence wasn’t complete until after the word said. A comma was used after it, then the end quotes. The variation from the sentence above with the question mark is that a question mark always follows a question, regardless that there is more to the sentence.
Then we get into a person relating something someone else said. That’s where you find single quotes inside double quotes.

“When she became obstinate, her mother said, ‘Go to your room!’”

In this example of dialogue, the sentence within a sentence – Go to your room – is set off with single quotation marks. Notice that the exclamation point ending the dialogue goes inside both sets of end quotes: The exclamation point, then the single end quote to end the dialogue within dialogue, and then the double end quote signifying the final end to the entire string of dialogue.
The exclamation point belongs with the string Go to your room, so belongs inside the single end quote. In the cases where an exclamation point should end the embodying string of dialogue, the exclamation point would be placed between the single end quote and the double one, like this:

“I hated that he quietly said, ‘It’s over’!”

Notice here, too, the lack of a period after the repeated dialogue. Someone else said It’s over but it is not the end of the whole sentence that is being spoken in anger. So the exclamation point belongs after the single quote mark but inside the double end quotes.
For most writers, the simple rule is that all punctuation goes inside the end quotes. When it becomes more complicated is when you begin to quote dialogue where one person is telling what another person said. Then many more variations exist.
Much to any writer’s chagrin, instruction for proper usage of quotation marks could fill many pages. It’s wise to have a reputable book of punctuation nearby and seek out the exact examples and solutions you may need for your prose.
To assure your punctuation won’t get your prose rejected, I highly recommend The Chicago Manual of Style: The Essential Guide for Writers, Editors and Publishers.



Mary Deal

Author, Painter, Photographer
Eric Hoffer Book Award Winner
National Indie Excellence Book Awards Finalist (past)
Pushcart Prize Nominee
Global eBook Awards Nominee
2014 National Indie Excellence Book Awards Finalist
Global eBook Awards Bronze
Global eBook Awards Silver
Art Gallery: http://www.MaryDealFineArt.com
Gift Gallery: zazzle.com/IslandImageGallery*

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Generic Logos - How To Spot And Avoid Them

We have seen logo designs and feel like we have seen them before, or they do not seem too unique. It is where you have probably come across a generic logo design that is not doing much for your brand. Your logo design is often the first interaction that potential customers have with your brand that is why it is important for your logo design be effective. A logo design is much more than just an image or a text which states that it has to be original and creative. For a brand that wants to attract customers and stand out from the competition must have a compelling and attractive logo design that can deliver the right message to the audience. Logo designers know and value the importance of professional logo design to any business either it is large, small or just a startup. It represents the company, it tells their story and symbolizes their brand identity to the world. No matter how good your products or services are, if your logo design is poor, you are...
Post a Comment
Read more

MARGARET FIELAND INTERVIEW (guest blogger)

When did you first know you were destined to be a writer? LOL, I never realized I was destined to be a writer -- I fell into it. I'd written poetry for years, collecting it in notebooks stacked in my attic when I wrote one I wanted to keep. This led me to several online sites and ultimately to discovering the Muse Online Writers Conference where I hooked up with Linda Barnett Johnson and joined her writers forums. She required everyone to write both fiction and poetry, so, with much trepidation, I started writing fiction. Then I got hooked on it, wrote a chapter book, took the ICL course and actually learned how to write it. Then in 2010, I was seized by a desire to write a sci fi novel, so I spent six weeks or so on world building, mostly, with a bit of plotting thrown in for good measure. Who would you cite as your influences? I'm a way-back sci-fi fan, and Robert A. Heinlein influenced me heavily. I took a lot away from his writing, notably the value of surpris...
6 comments
Read more

Creating Your Story Title by Mary Deal

Something writers of multiple stories will experience: Titles may come to you in a flash. Some will take a bit of thinking through. Say you’ve written your first and only story thus far. You may feel you have a great title for that one piece of prose. However, caution should be taken due to lack of experience in titles. You can only know how easy or how difficult choosing a title will be after you’ve written a few stories. For the person who writes many stories or many books, again, choosing a title may come easy, or it may be one of the most difficult aspects of writing. Some writers are unable to start a story unless they have a great title lined up. Then, with that title in mind, they set out to write, only to change the title once they see where the plot and characters lead them. Some authors cannot title a story till it’s written and rewritten for the umpteenth time. Then they decide. Whatever your preference, titles are just as important as the overall story itself...
Post a Comment
Read more