How To Punctuate Dialogue With A Question Mark

“why don’t you,” umberto said and raised a hand. Other punctuations—semicolons, question marks, dashes, and exclamation points—belong outside unless it directly pertains to the material within the quotes, as in this example from raymond carver's short story where i'm calling from:

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Why are you growing a mustache?

How to punctuate dialogue with a question mark. When the tag comes last, you'll need to place a comma inside the quotation marks and then finish the line normally. It's my sister's birthday this saturday. There is a reason why some publishers expect manuscript submission in plain text.

If the quoted text ends with a question mark or exclamation mark, the comma is not needed. First up is dialogue ending with a tag. Did he love you? her father asked.

I'm averse to all caps in general and italics as emphasis. You would use the exclamation point whether the dialogue tag is before or after the statement. Combining italics with thought tags is a clear and definite signal to your reader that your character is thinking something.

If the dialogue tag follows a question mark or an exclamation mark,. The question mark should always appear at the end of the question—whether that's the end of the sentence or not. Punctuating dialogue and direct quotations :

Direct dialogue (with tag last): Do not use quotation marks to set off an indirect quotation. 1) use both italics and thought dialogue tags.

There is no closing quotation mark at the end of this paragraph. When the dialogue ends in an exclamation point: Immediately after the quotation marks, the dialogue tag (he said/she said/they asked, etc.) indicates who spoke the preceding sentiment, and that is.

If the dialogue tag follows a complete sentence, put a comma before the closing quotation mark. Formatting inner dialogue is a stylistic choice, for the most part. When a dialogue tag interrupts in the middle, use lowercase for the second part of a.

When a dialogue tag comes after what is said, use a comma, exclamation point or question mark with a lowercase pronoun, then period. If two of your characters are having a conversation, the dialogue (and proper punctuation placement) might go something like this: I tried to keep it simple, he said.

Dialogue may stretch across paragraphs without pause. A comma follows the speech tag. You need italics only if you give the title of a book or words in a foreign language, i.e.

Would wednesday work for the meeting? she asked. I don't want any stupid cake, says the guy. Do you want to come to the party? emma said.

When the dialogue ends in a question mark: The second part of the utterance continues with a lower case letter at the start, and it is punctuated. Use a question mark when the speaker is asking a question, regardless of where the dialogue tag is placed in the sentence.

Use an exclamation point when the speaker is shouting, excited or surprised. After a sentence adverb or at either end of a defining clause), the comma is placed inside the quotation mark at the end of the first part of the utterance (10). I wake with the morning sun every day, he said.

I said, “the fable by james thurber will surprise you.” Separate the quoted material from the dialogue tag by commas. Use quotation marks to begin and end a direct quotation.

The optional exception to these rules are if the dialogue ends in a punctuation mark other than a period, like a question mark. Then the writer can choose to use the question mark or replace it with a comma. When writing a question or exclamation, use a question mark or exclamation mark without a comma.

To punctuate, put a terminal punctuation—period, question mark, or exclamation point— at the end of the first paragraph. “this is an example of a dialogue tag following a complete sentence,” stacey said. If you want to show that direct speech is being shouted, you can say so, or use an exclamation mark:

“i love watching football,” chris said. Since the question mark is necessary to convey the full content of what he is saying, it is included within the quotation marks to indicate that the question mark is part of what is spoken. When writing a snippet of dialogue that ends with a tag (a word such as said or shouted), you should end the dialogue with a comma.

“why don’t you?” umberto said and raised a hand. Here are 3 different ways you can handle it, depending on what you’re trying to do with the inner dialogue. Periods and commas go inside the quotation marks in american writing (the brits have slightly different rules);

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