Subject: Corrections
Author:
Posted on: 2024-04-12 16:13:19 UTC

Quotations end in commas when they're followed by a dialogue tag, a.k.a. speech tag, which identifies the speaker and includes a verb such as "said," "shouted," or "queried" that applies to the action of speaking.

Both the examples you pointed out have action tags: an action done by the same character that accompanies the speaking action, but is not part of it. They are punctuated correctly as separate sentences.

You're right that nested quotations should alternate between double and single quotes, but single quotations marks are not the same as apostrophes and I will get on you if you're using smart quotes and the opening mark faces the wrong way. {; P

  • Correct: “I don’t do ‘nice’,” Meg returned. (Apostrophe in "don't," nested single quotes around "nice.")

  • Incorrect: “I don’t do ’nice’,” Meg returned. (Oops, all apostrophes.)

See the difference?

~Neshomeh

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