Dialogue and Quotation Marks — Answer Key
Part A: Multiple Choice
Circle the best answer for each question.
1. Which is the best rewrite of: Lily said that she would help with the project?
A) Lily said, "I will help with the project."
B) Lily said "she would help with the project."
C) Lily said, she would help with the project.
D) "Lily said I will help with the project."
Converting to direct speech changes she to I and places the words inside quotation marks.
2. Which sentence is correctly punctuated dialogue with a split tag?
A) "Tomorrow" she said "we leave at dawn."
B) "Tomorrow," she said, "we leave at dawn."
C) "Tomorrow," she said. "We leave at dawn."
D) "Tomorrow." she said, "we leave at dawn."
Because the quoted sentence continues, commas mark the split rather than periods.
3. Which line shows an internal thought, not dialogue?
A) "That's odd," he muttered.
B) He whispered, "That's odd."
C) That's odd, he thought silently.
D) "That's odd!" he yelled.
Silent thinking is usually shown without quotation marks and is sometimes italicized.
4. Which sentence has correct dialogue punctuation throughout?
A) "Wait!" Jay called "I forgot something".
B) "Wait"! Jay called, "I forgot something."
C) Wait, Jay called "I forgot something."
D) "Wait!" Jay called. "I forgot something."
Each quoted sentence has its punctuation inside the quotes and starts with a capital letter.
Part B: Fill in the Blank
Write the correct answer on each line.
1. To convert indirect to direct speech, change the pronouns to first person.
Direct speech uses the speaker's exact words, which are typically in first person.
2. A character's silent thinking is usually shown in italics rather than quotes.
Italics distinguish internal thoughts from spoken dialogue without using quotation marks.
3. When fixing a messy scene, every spoken line needs quotation marks.
Quotation marks always surround the exact words a character speaks aloud.
4. After an action beat ends a sentence, the next quoted word begins with a capital letter.
Quoted sentences after a period follow normal capitalization rules and start with a capital.
5. Indirect: She asked if I was ready. Direct: She asked, "Are you ready?"
Direct dialogue switches the third-person pronoun back to the second-person you.