Quotes

A quote is something that shows exactly what another person writes or says. Quotation marks are used to surround the quoted material. Then an identifier is used at the beginning, middle, or end of the quote to credit the original writer or speaker. There are three basic styles to writing a quote.

Style 1

“Quote,” Speaker said.

“Quote,” Speaker said. “Quote.”

Examples:

• “There is a lot of fruit in a fruit salad,” Nick O. Teen said. "There are few vegetables."
• “Is sky diving a safe way to travel?” Heather asked.
• “I lost a shoe lace and cannot find it!” Charles shouted.

Style 2

Speaker said, “Quote.”

Examples:

• Anna Conda said, “I cannot stand the sight of snakes. They make me sick.”
• Floyd asked, “Is there such a thing as purple bananas?”
• Ella Vader exclaimed, “The ship is sinking and we have run out of coffee!”

Style 3

“Quote,” Speaker said, “quote.”

Examples:

• “The lighthouse,” Marley said, “was toppled in a storm. Fortunately, no one was hurt.”
• “Did Mr. Polly Ester,” Marty Graw asked, “once live in that old house?”
• “We need to move quickly,” Pacheco yelled, “the fire is headed this way!”

Additional Rules

• Follow the capitalization and punctuation usage in the examples given above.
• When mentioning a person for the first time, use their first and last name. After, use only their last name.
• Usually create a new paragraph each time a person is quoted.