Punctuating Dialogue

Front

What is dialogue?

Back

Dialogue is a conversation between two or more characters in a story.

Front

How do you punctuate dialogue?

Back

You use quotation marks to enclose the spoken words, and punctuation marks like commas, periods, and question marks to indicate pauses and ends.

Front

What do you place at the beginning of a spoken sentence?

Back

You place a quotation mark (" ) at the beginning of the spoken sentence.

Front

What do you place at the end of a spoken sentence?

Back

You place a quotation mark (" ) at the end of the spoken sentence.

Front

What punctuation mark is used to show a pause in dialogue?

Back

A comma (,) is used to show a pause in dialogue.

Front

When a character asks a question in dialogue, what punctuation do you use?

Back

You use a question mark (?) at the end of the spoken sentence.

Front

What do you do if the dialogue is interrupted?

Back

You use a dash (—) to indicate the interruption.

Front

How do you indicate who is speaking in dialogue?

Back

You can use a dialogue tag, such as 'he said' or 'she asked', after the spoken words.

Front

What is a dialogue tag?

Back

A dialogue tag is a phrase that attributes the dialogue to a specific character, like 'he said' or 'she asked'.

Front

What happens to the first word of a dialogue?

Back

The first word of the dialogue should always be capitalized.