Punctuation – How Do I Use Quotation Marks in Writing?

By Stuart Ackerman

     Quotation marks seem to always stump students.  Students often get confused about quotations because they don’t know where to put the period, question mark, comma, and quotation marks.
 

Direct Quotations
 
Direct quotations involve quotation marks that indicate that you are quoting the exact words that someone said and you are attributing those words to that person.
 
For example,
 
John said, "I want to go to the mall today."
 
"I want to go to," said Jennifer, "I'll be ready in five minutes."
 
     Notice how the commas and periods are located inside closing quotation marks.
 
     Commas usually start off the explanatory words that accompany direct quotations but when end punctuation is part of the direct quote, you omit the comma.
 
For example,
 
"Do you want to come with me?" asked John.
 
"Sure!" exclaimed David.
 
     Notice how the end punctuation goes inside the quotation marks when it is part of the direct quotation.
 
     End punctuation belongs outside the quotation marks when they are not part of the direct quotation.
 
For example,
 
Do I have to listen to my mom ask, "Are you okay dear"?
 
 
Indirect Quotations
 
When we restate something that someone else said without using their exact words, we are using an indirect quotation.  In this case, we don't use quotation marks.
 
For example,
 
Direct quotation:  John said, "I want to come."
 
Indirect quotation:  John said he wants to come.
 
 
     You can clearly see why students have difficulty with quotation marks.  It is important that students practice placing quotation marks in dialogue (both with their actual writing pieces and practice worksheets) and learn the difference between direct and indirect quotations. 

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Tutorgiant.com provides  Quotation Mark lessons with worksheets.

See some of the lessons in our video library.

QUOTATION MARKS - Lesson (A) Introduction to Quotation Marks (Grades 2-3)
QUOTATION MARKS - Lesson (B) Quotation Marks in Titles (Grades 4-6)
QUOTATION MARKS - Lesson (C) Single Quotation Marks (Grades 4-6)

EDITING AND PROOFREADING - Introduction to Editing and Proofreading (Grades 4-6)

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