Do you need to put a comma before a quote?

Do you need to put a comma before a quote?

As a general rule, you should use a comma to introduce quoted material or dialogue. That’s because in most types of dialogue, the quoted material stands apart from the surrounding text. In grammatical terms, it’s “syntactically independent.”

What punctuation goes before a quote?

Rule 1: Complete sentence: “quotation.” (If you use a complete sentence to introduce a quotation, use a colon (:) just before the quotation.) Rule 2: Someone says, “quotation.” (If the word just before the quotation is a verb indicating someone uttering the quoted words, use a comma.

How do you use a comma in a quote?

Proper Punctuation – Quotes

1. If you start by telling who said it, use a comma and then the first quotation mark.
2. If you put the quote first and then tell who said it, use a comma at the end of the sentence, and then the second quotation mark.
3. Punctuation always goes inside the quotation marks if it is a direct quote.

Where does the question mark go in a quote?

Explanation: According to AP style, a question mark is inside quotation marks if that part is the question and outside the quotation marks if the whole sentence is a question. (The same rule applies to exclamation marks and dashes. Periods and commas always go inside quotation marks.)

How do you punctuate quotes in an essay?

The final period or comma goes inside the quotation marks, even if it is not a part of the quoted material, unless the quotation is followed by a citation. If a citation in parentheses follows the quotation, the period follows the citation.

How do you quote two sentences together?

For a direct quotation of two or more sentences with the attribution at the beginning of the first sentence, put a colon, not a comma, after the attribution and place the quotation in double quotation marks. She said: “The motorcycle slid sideways and skidded about 100 feet. The driver was killed.”

How do you quote and leave words out?

Insert one space between each of the three ellipsis points. Use ellipsis points at the beginning or end of a direct quotation (except in rare instances). Insert a space before and after the ellipsis points. Use ellipses to make a quote say something other than what the author originally intended.

How do you quote someone in an essay Harvard?

If you use a direct quotation from an author, you should:

1. enclose it in quotation marks.
2. give the author, date and page number(s) that the quotation was taken from, in brackets.

How do you quote a quote in Harvard referencing?

Short quotations (less than 40 words) should be enclosed in single quotation marks (‘…’) and be part of the main text. Longer quotations should start on a separate line, with no quotation marks, and indented throughout. Do not italicize quotations. Double quotation marks (“…”) are used for a quote within a quote.

What if there is a quote inside a quote?

Rule: Use single quotation marks inside double quotation marks when you have a quotation within a quotation. Example: Bobbi told me, “Delia said, ‘This will never work. ‘ ” Notice that what Delia said was enclosed in single quotation marks.

Can you take words out of a quote?

Yes, you can leave out words you deem unnecessary in a quotation, but you can’t take out words that will change its meaning.

Can you use multiple ellipses in a quote?

An Ellipsis for a Quotation Spanning Multiple Sentences Use four ellipsis points (rather than three) to indicate any omission between two sentences. The first point indicates the period at the end of the first sentence quoted, and the three spaced ellipsis points follow.

How do you indicate missing text in a quote?

Three Dots for Missing Text To show readers that part of a quotation is missing, a writer can use three dots (like this …) to replace the missing words. (These three dots are called an ellipsis.) An ellipsis is usually written or in square brackets […].

How do you show a pause in text?

a: Use punctuation (comma, ellipsis, dash) to indicate a pause or break. may be in the middle of a sentence or at the end of it. You can use commas, dashes, or ellipses to cue different types of pauses.

Where do I put commas and full stops?

Full Stops

1. A full stop (or period) is primarily used to mark the end of a sentence.
2. If using a footnote referencing style, including OSCOLA, the citation should come after the full stop:
3. An Oxford comma precedes the ‘and’ before the last entry of a list.

Which is the shortest pause?

Colons, commas, and periods A dot in the middle (·) signified the shortest pause, called the comma.

What are Comma Full Stop called?

Punctuation is the name for marks used in writing text. They are to help understanding and the correct reading. These are some common punctuation marks used in English: . is a period or full stop. , is a comma.