#Connecting clauses to dialogue tags pdf#

“He loved you,” she said, hoping to provoke a reaction. The first sentence will end with a period and the second will begin with a capital letter. Separating this into two sentences also works. “He loved you,” she said, hoping to provoke a reaction, “but you didn’t care.” “He loved you,” she said, “but you didn’t care.” Commas go inside the first set of quotation marks and after the dialogue tag (or action). The action and dialogue tag can also come first.ĭialogue can be interrupted by a tag and then resume in the same sentence. “He loved you,” she said, hoping Sue didn’t hear her. The dialogue tag is next and the action follows the tag-no capital letter because this is part of the same sentence-with a period to end the sentence. A comma follows the dialogue and comes before the closing quotation mark.

The dialogue is enclosed in quotation marks. Single line of dialogue with dialogue tag and action The comma still separates the dialogue tag from the spoken words, but it is outside the quotation marks, and the period is inside the quotation marks. Punctuation serves to separate the spoken words from other parts of the sentence.īecause the dialogue tag-she said-is part of the same sentence, it is not capped.

The dialogue is enclosed in quotation marks. Single line with dialogue tag (attribution) following The entire sentence, including the period (or question mark or exclamation point) is within the quotation marks. Here are some of the rules, with examples. The word that is implied in the example of indirect dialogue. Indirect dialogue is a report that someone spoke. Only direct dialogue requires quotation marks. (Interrupted dialogue, when it resumes, is not capped.) Other parts of the same sentence-dialogue tags and action or thought-go outside the quotation marks.ĭialogue begins with a capitalized word, no matter where in the sentence it begins. Only what is spoken is within the quotation marks. Commas go in particular places, as do terminal marks such as periods and question marks.

#Connecting clauses to dialogue tags pdf#

The PDF Punctuation in Dialogue ($0.99) and The Magic of Fiction(available in paperback and PDF) both contain expanded and updated versions of this material.ĭialogue h as its own rules for punctuation. Decemby Fiction Editor Beth Hill last modified April 18, 2016