How to Punctuate Dialogue:

1.the tag line (he said; she answered; he replied) can come before, after, or in the
middle of the speech. When the tag line comes in the middle of a sentence, put a
comma before and after it. “Well,” Dad said smiling, “thanks for your help,
Willy.”
2.Put periods, commas, question or exclamation marks that belong with a speaker’s
words inside the quotations. “You would have done fine without me,” I answered.
“What do you mean?” she blurted.

3.Put quotation marks around the words each person says.

4.Begin each sentence of a speech with a capital letter.
5.Use original tag lines or drop them altogether if only two people are speaking.

“Schooling,” said Mr. Rothwell, “is not entirely the same thing as education.”

“Why not?” asked John.

If the writer uses a complete sentence to introduce the words of the speaker, use a colon:

Mr. Rothwell made an interesting observation on learning: “Schooling is not entirely the same
thing as education.”

Paragraphing and Dialogue:

In passages using dialogue, the writer must begin a new paragraph each time a new
character or person speaks.

“Why not? asked John.

“You’ve never taken things seriously is why,” replied Clarissa.

Practice:

Correct the following passage by rewriting with the quotations, indents, commas and paragraph
indentations as required.

By the time Jan arrived most of the family was already seated. Where have you been? Jan’s
mother looked worried. Traffic. Jan tried to avoid meeting her mother’s invading eyes and slid
down to the end of the table beside Nathan. Nathan grinned. So did you go there again? He
snorted quietly and kicked at the table leg jarring Jan’s water glass just enough to draw her
father’s attention. Mind you own business. I will Nathan replied smiling and turning now to
look at Jan directly when I’m sure that you won’t be off getting involved in something that will
hurt the whole family. You overestimate my importance around here. Possibly Nathan replied
or you sadly underestimate it.