Punctuation Quotes Mid Sentence

In a sentence with an interrupted quotation the comma is inside the quotation marks for the first half of a quotation.

Punctuation quotes mid sentence. Avoid this invalid usage. In each of these sample sentences the speaker tag interrupts the quotation. Don t capitalize quotes that are only partial sentences. In the middle of a sentence.

In a sentence with an interrupted quotation the speaker tag is followed by a comma before the quotation marks. Examples include the comma semicolon colon dash hyphen apostrophe and quotation marks. Punctuation with interrupted quotations. When the quote is a piece of a bigger quote or a sentence fragment no capitalization is necessary.

Time for some more dumb rules for interrupted quotations. This rule isn t just for speech. In such cases a colon is also proper and sometimes preferable. The single quotation marks in the above sentence are intended to send a message to the reader that friend is being used in a special way.

Consider the sentences below and note the lack of capitalization in quotes within these sentences. Never use single quotation marks in sentences like the previous three. A period can be used to introduce a block quotation when the introductory text stands on its own as a complete sentence. The greatest confusion arises when exclamation points and other punctuation marks appear at the end of a sentence.

4 mid sentence punctuation marks just as terminal punctuation comes at the end of a sentence mid sentence punctuation is used somewhere in the middle. Quotation interrupted in the middle of a sentence. When a quotation ends with an exclamation point a comma that would ordinarily be placed inside the closing quotation mark is omitted. The first sentence contains a direct quote a quote in which you report the exact words john used the second sentence contains an indirect quote which is a paraphrased version of what john said quotation marks are used only with direct quotes.

I had a visit from my friend the tax man. In this case sarcastically. For examples of most such pairings see the terminal punctuation chart. The words introducing a quotation e g.