Direct speech presents a speaker’s words as a quotation. In Mina said, “I left my notebook at home.”, the words inside the quotation marks are what Mina said. Mina said is the dialogue tag.
How to punctuate direct speech
- Tag first. Mina said, “I left my notebook at home.” A comma usually follows the tag.
- Tag last. “I left my notebook at home,” Mina said. In American style, the comma goes inside the closing quotation mark.
- Question or exclamation. “Did you see my notebook?” Mina asked. Keep the quoted question mark or exclamation point inside the quotation marks. It takes the place of the comma before the tag.
Direct and indirect speech
Mina said that she had left her notebook at home reports the same message indirectly. It uses she and her to fit the reporter’s viewpoint. Use direct speech when the original wording matters. See comma for more on separating parts of a sentence.
