3 Important punctuation tips for STORY DIALGOUE

1. Put quotation marks (“…..”) around words that a character says out loud…. but no quotations marks
around a character’s thoughts.

2. A sentence of dialogue may have a he said phrase that tells the reader which character is speaking.

➢ When the he said phrase comes first in the sentence, use a comma (,) after it.
↓
Mrs. Porter said, “Follow these punctuation rules when you write your story.”

➢ When the he said phrase comes at the end of the sentence:

↓
“You need to use these punctuation rules,” Mrs. Porter said. (speaking)
“Do you understand these rules?” Mrs. Porter asked. (asking)
“Learn these rules!” she screamed. (yelling/excited)

➢ When the he said phrase is in the middle of the sentence, set it off with commas:
↓
“Because these rules are confusing,” Mrs. Porter said, “you need to pay attention to the
grammar check tools your computer. Notice that all commas, question marks, and exclamation
points are placed before the quotation marks.”

3. A sentence of dialogue has only one period.