Page 17 - TARGET YOUR PUNCTUATION

Target 4: Speech Marks

There are four points to remember about speech marks:

1. Speech marks are used to
show what is said. They are
used at the beginning and end
of a piece of speech.

“Doctor, Doctor, everyone keeps ignoring me.”
“Next please!”

“Doctor, Doctor, my son has swallowed a pen, what should I do?”
“Use a pencil until I get there!”

2. Any punctuation
at the end of the
speech goes inside
the speech marks.

Now what about the commas? 3. If the speech is in
the middle of a
sentence put a comma
before the speech.

A patient went up to Dr. Smith and said, “Doctor, Doctor, I think I’m
a pair of curtains, what should I do?”
“Pull yourself together,” said Dr Smith.

4. If the sentence continues after the speech put a
comma inside the last speech mark (unless there is
already an exclamation mark or question mark).

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