Direct and Indirect Quotations
Direct Quotations
A direct quotation is a speaker’s exact words.
Direct Quotation Rules
Use quotation marks at the beginning and end of a direct quotation.
Use a comma to separate the speaker’s exact words from the rest of the sentence.
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Examples
Planning to introduce the sentence with the name of the speaker and the verb, a writer should follow this introduction with a comma followed by quotation marks and the exact words of the speaker. The sentence should end with the appropriate punctuation—period, question marks, and exclamation points—that should appear inside the closing quotation marks.
Examples
Indirect Quotations
An indirect quotation retells a speaker’s words. No quotations marks should be used when the words that or whether come before a speaker’s words.
Examples