Quotation Marks and Punctuation

Quotation marks are used to indicate direct speech, quotations, or titles of short works.

If the quote itself is a question, the question mark goes inside the quotation marks.

A semicolon separates closely related independent clauses and can also be used to separate items in a complex list.

Place a comma before the closing quotation mark if the quote is followed by a dialogue tag.

It should be: 'He said, "I will go."'

A colon is used to introduce a list, a quote, or an explanation.

A period indicates the end of a sentence, while a comma indicates a pause or separates elements within a sentence.

Place the dialogue tag after the first part of the quote, followed by a comma, and then continue the quote.

Use quotation marks for titles of short works like articles, poems, and songs.

A comma is used to indicate a pause in a sentence.