Use a comma if the quotation is introduced or followed by an expression such as he said or she remarked. Do not use a capital letter with the first word of a direct quotation that is only part of a sentence. Words used as words are usually set off by the use of italics or underlined to indicate italics. However, enclosing them in quotation marks is also acceptable. Use quotation marks to set off words used as words. The paraphrased passage should not look or sound like the original passage.

• If you’re unfamiliar with the meanings of any of these words or others you find in your reading, consult a dictionary before using them.
• For more information on MLA Style, APA style, Chicago Style, ASA Style, CSE Style, and I-Search Format, refer to our Gallaudet TIP Citations and Referenceslink.
• Before you panic, you can use this quick guide to help you keep those quotation marks from jumbling up your perfect punctuation.
• The text being indented already marks it as a direct quotation.

Study the instructions for the assignment and write out possible ideas for your essay. After you provide a quotation, explain how the quotation supports your idea and/or add commentary about what the quotation expresses.

Sample Quotes

According to MLA guidelines, if you change the case of a letter from the original, you must indicate this with brackets. To introduce a quote in an essay, don't forget to include author's last name and page number or author, date, and page number in your citation. Shown below are some possible ways to introduce quotations. Do not place in quotation marks names of events , even if it is a unique event with a proper name . The title of a lecture is placed in quotes, the name of a lecture series is not . If the author’s name appears in the introduction to the quote or in the paraphrase, it doesn’t have to appear in the parenthetical reference, as the citations above illustrate. You can also begin a sentence with your own words and complete it with quoted words.

Whiley rejects the idea that the earth could have been formed by a massive explosion in space (author’s last name, year, p. ##). Though bar owners disagree, Johnston maintains that banning smoking in all public places will not negatively affect bar business (author’s last name p.##). The author cautions that “people who subject themselves to smoky bars night after night could develop illnesses such as emphysema or lung cancer” (p.##). Despite criticism, Johnston agrees that smoking should be banned in all public places (author’s last name p.##).

How do you greet before a speech?

Learn the tips, techniques and strategies to effectively communicate your thoughts and ideas on paper. Apply today to get a comprehensive liberal arts education that will improve your writing abilities. Spruce up your writing, and your reader's reaction, with one of these unique punctuation marks.

Burdowbelievesthat being able to write using proper English grammar is an important skill (author’s last name p.##). Dr. Billowsaysthat being exposed to television violence at a young age desensitizes children to violence in real life (author’s last name p.##). In this sentence, In 1910, GK Chesterton wrote about the issue in Alarms and Discursions is an independent clause. Miranda Terry has taught middle school science and social studies for two years. Before that, she worked four years as a park district educator, designing short lessons for day camps and summer programs.

current community

According to the author, children with ADD have a shorter attention span than children without ADD (author’s last name, year, p. ##). The article discusses the qualities of a good American housewife in the 1950s (author’s last name p.##). Godfried remarks, “Ignorance is a skill learned by many of the greatest fools” (author’s last name p.##). Goeff then relatesthat his childhood was “the time he learned to live on less than bread alone” (p. ##).

Therefore, we tried to help ourselves through diet, sport, natural remedies and little gestures made out of love.More .... You’re like one of those birds from the Summer Isles, aren’t you? A pretty little talking bird, repeating all the pretty little words they taught you to recite. The first letter of the quotation should be lower case.

Which tenses can we use when introducing a quote?

Changing verb tense or pronouns in order to be consistent with the rest of the sentence. The reader’s understanding of the Writing Center’s mission to serve the UNC community is not affected by omitting the information about its location. When Franklin Roosevelt gave his inaugural speech on March 4, 1933, he addressed a nation weakened and demoralized by economic depression.

• At the end of the sentence containing the quotation, provide a parenthetical citation of the page or line number, and put a period at the end of the whole sentence.
• Use quotation marks anytime you include someone else's words in your own paper.
• Use a colon to introduce an example or to further explain an idea presented in the first part of a sentence.

Doing this will help your writing flow smoothly and make you seem credible as a writer. There are two rules about verb tense when introducing quotations. However, it is appropriate to use quotations in your writing, especially in research writing.

Begin a sentence with your own words, then complete it with quoted words

Longer quotations should be set off from the main text, and are referred to as block quotations. Because the quoted material is set off from the main text, it is not necessary to use quotation marks.

With this approach, you will often begin with a citation or a reference to the authors, and you will then include your verb and a comma. As a general rule, you should use a comma to introduce quoted material or dialogue, but there are three times you shouldn't. If a sentence is a question or an exclamation, but the quote is not, we typically place the punctuation mark outside of the quotation marks. If a sentence ends with multiple quotes , the period is placed within all of the final quotation marks. Is another punctuation mark used to indicate a full stop.

Quoting After a Comma

When quoting a person or writing dialogue in British English, use single quotation marks, and when adding a quote within a quote, use double quotation marks. To put a quote in an essay, incorporate it directly into a sentence if it's shorter than 4 typed lines. For example, you could write "According to researchers," and then the joy of reading and writing superman and me essay insert the quote. If a quote is longer than 4 typed lines, set it off from the rest of the paragraph, and don't put quotes around it. After the quote, include an in-text citation so readers know where it's from. The right way to cite the quote will depend on whether you're using MLA, APA, or Chicago Style formatting.

If a quote ends in the middle of a sentence, we typically put a comma rather than a period at the end of the quote inside the quotation marks. If you quote words that are in quotation marks in the original, such as character dialogue in a novel, then use double quote marks enclosing single quote marks. When a sentence begins with a quote, place the punctuation inside the quotation marks before continuing the sentence. No end punctuation is necessary after these quotes because before introducing a auote they already have end punctuation. However, if the end punctuation applies to the whole sentence instead of just the quote, it goes outside the quotation marks. You can introduce a quote with your own words or even interrupt the quote with your own words, as long as the quotation marks are around any words you didn’t write yourself. Capitalize the first letter following a colon for a proper noun, the beginning of a quote, or the first letter of another independent clause.

Question marks and exclamation points

This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial.

It’s a great way to incorporate evidence into your paper without using a direct quote every time. Although you don’t need to use quotes around a paraphrase, you do need to cite it. To quote more than four typed lines of prose, use indentation rather than quotation marks. Set off the quoted prose by indenting ten spaces from the left margin of your text and double space the lines. Long quotations of prose are usually introduced by a sentence ending with a colon. A period can be used to introduce a block quotation when the introductory text stands on its own as a complete sentence. In such cases, a colon is also proper⁠—and sometimes preferable.

Use Colons to Introduce Run

If it does, you could be accused of plagiarism, which is the stealing of others’ ideas. Also, just as when you include a quotation, you must tell your reader whose ideas you are paraphrasing. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to include direct quotations in your writing. Single space or double space within the block quotation, depending on the style guidelines of your discipline (MLA, CSE, APA, Chicago, etc.).