A)
Cap. Quote Rule - A direct quote usually begins with a capital letter.
Right: Mr. Stowell exclaimed, "Grammar rocks!"
Wrong: Mr. Stowell exclaimed, "grammar rocks!"
B)
Change-up Rule - Every time you change a speaker, you start a new paragraph...but only do so when you CHANGE the speaker!
Right:
Once upon a time there was a teacher who loved grammar. "I love grammar," the teacher said. He tried to convince his class grammar was cool. "Isn't this so much fun?" he asked.
"No, it is not fun at all!" the class replied in unison.
"Oh." Mr. Stowell walked away, dejected.
C)
Tag Rule - speaker tags are the typical "he said" or "she said" phrases. Note the punctuation in the examples.
Right: "I never know what to say," said Mr. Stowell.
Wrong: "I never know what to say" said Mr. Stowell.
Right: Mr. Stowell asked, "How do I convince them?"
Wrong: Mr. Stowell asked "How do I convince them?"
D)
Continue Quote Rule - When a quoted sentence is interrupted by a speech tag, follow the example on properly punctuating.
Right: "I think I'll have some ice cream," ordered Mr. Stowell, "with my pepperoni pizza!"
Wrong: "I think I'll have some ice cream," ordered Mr. Stowell, "With my pepperoni pizza!"
E)
Inception Quote Rule - When you have a quote inside of a quote, the inside quote gets single quotation marks.
Right: "I can't believe Mr. Stowell said, 'No more homework ever again!' at the end of class today," Mary exclaimed.
Wrong: "I can't believe Mr. Stowell said, "No more homework ever again!" at the end of class today," Mary exclaimed.
Right: Mary said, "It was so funny when Mr. Stowell screamed, 'Don't hurt me!'"
Wrong: Mary said, "It was so funny when Mr. Stowell screamed, "Don't hurt me!""
F)
Long Quote Rule - When a quotation goes on for several uninterrupted sentences, you only put the quotation marks at the beginning of the first sentence, and the end of the last sentence - NOT on every sentence.
Right: Mr. Stowell said, "Teaching grammar doesn't have to be boring. It can be fun, but it's harder to make it fun. However, I only teach it because I have to for NECAPs. I'd rather spend my time teaching other things."
Wrong: Mr. Stowell said, "Teaching grammar doesn't have to be boring." "It can be fun, but it's harder to make it fun." "However, I only teach it because I have to for NECAPs." "I'd rather spend my time teaching other things."
G)
Super-long Quote Rule - If a quotation goes on for several uninterrupted PARAGRAPHS, but the open quotation mark at the beginning of every paragraph, but only put a close quotation mark at the end of the last paragraph. This is too long to give you an example!
H)
Inside Punc. Rule - Periods and commas at the end of quotations ALWAYS go inside the quotation marks. Put a question mark (?) or exclamation mark (!) inside the quotation marks only if they apply to the quotation itself. If the ? or ! apply to the WHOLE sentence, place them outside of the quotation marks.
Right: It was funny when the lady yelled, "Where's the beef?"
Wrong: It was funny when the lady yelled, "Where's the beef"?
Right: Did Mr. Stowell really just say, "OMG"?
Wrong: Did Mr. Stowell really just say, "OMG?"