Examples of correctly punctuated dialogue for Grade 6 writers.

📝 Quick Study Guide: Punctuating Dialogue

• 🗣️ Quotation Marks: Use " " to show the exact words a person says.
• 💬 Comma Placement: A comma usually separates the spoken words from the rest of the sentence (e.g., the tag like "he said" or "she asked").
• 🛑 End Punctuation: Periods, question marks, or exclamation points go *inside* the closing quotation mark if they are part of the spoken words.
• 🆕 New Speaker, New Paragraph: Start a new paragraph each time a different person speaks.
• 💡 Capitalization: The first word inside quotation marks is always capitalized unless it's a continuation of a sentence already started.
• ✍️ Action Tags: If the action comes *before* the dialogue, use a comma. If it comes *after*, use a comma, period, question mark, or exclamation point inside the quotation marks.

🧠 Practice Quiz: Dialogue Punctuation

1. Which sentence correctly punctuates the dialogue?

A) "I love ice cream" she shouted.

B) "I love ice cream"! she shouted.

C) "I love ice cream!" she shouted.

D) "I love ice cream!" She shouted.

2. Choose the correctly punctuated sentence.

A) "Where are you going?" asked Tom.

B) "Where are you going"? asked Tom.

C) "Where are you going," asked Tom.

D) "Where are you going?" Asked Tom.

3. Which sentence shows correct dialogue punctuation?

A) Sarah said "I'm ready to leave now."

B) Sarah said, "I'm ready to leave now."

C) Sarah said, "I'm ready to leave now".

D) Sarah said "I'm ready to leave now,"

4. Identify the sentence with correct punctuation.

A) "This book is amazing" Alex exclaimed, "I can't put it down!"

B) "This book is amazing!" Alex exclaimed. "I can't put it down!"

C) "This book is amazing!" Alex exclaimed, "I can't put it down!"

D) "This book is amazing," Alex exclaimed, "I can't put it down!"

5. How should a new speaker's dialogue be shown?

A) By indenting the line.

B) By starting a new paragraph.

C) By using bold text.

D) By adding a dash.

6. Which option correctly places the comma?

A) "Please come here" the teacher called.

B) "Please come here," the teacher called.

C) "Please, come here" the teacher called.

D) "Please come here" the teacher, called.

7. Which sentence is punctuated correctly?

A) "What a beautiful day"! remarked Lily.

B) "What a beautiful day", remarked Lily.

C) "What a beautiful day!" remarked Lily.

D) "What a beautiful day!" Remarked Lily.