"Thanks for helping me get the A+.  I'm going to grad school!" --Simon D., UCLA

  The Web site just for English students       December 3rd, 2024 10:52pm      
click here to return to MyEnglishTeacher.net home
sign up for FREE English lessons, FREE updates and news, and great offers for English students!
visit our online TOEFL Help Center
have an English teacher correct your essay, composition, report or any other type of writing
have a professional correct or write your resume and cover letter!
see past lessons that have appeared on MyEnglishTeacher.net!
see this week's FREE English lesson
click here to enter the LIVE chat room
click here for great resources for teachers

buy textbooks and English books at great prices!

contact us--we'd love to hear from you!

 

Looking for something?


 

 

 

 



 

"Study hard," said Mother.

Lesson Topic: Word Order for Quotations

In a previous lesson, we discussed how important it is to use other words for say and said.  For example, if the situation is about a man who just discovered his wallet had been stolen, the writer would NOT want to use the word said.

George discovered his wallet was stolen.  He yelled, "My wallet is missing!  Someone stole it."

Yelled is a much better word than said.  It expresses George's emotion and the whole atmosphere. To see this lesson on using words for say and said, click here

book recommendation

cover This book has received lots of praise from readers.  Here is one (taken from Amazon.com's Web site): "I read the book in just a few days, and it has answered writing questions that have plagued me (consciously and unconsciously) for as long as I can remember. Reading this book brought me a sense of relief and calm, as I no longer felt that grammar was a mysterious tune that only a few were fortunate enough to hear." Click here for more information.

To be a little more creative, you may want to change the word order.  This is another way to make your writing more interesting.  We could write the following:

"My wallet is missing.  Someone stole it!" George yelled.

George yelled is called the attributive phrase.  We put this attributive phrase at the end of the sentence.  We can even change the order of the words in the attributive phrase.

"My wallet is missing.  Someone stole it!"  yelled George.

Again, by using different words for say and varying the order of the words, the writing becomes much more interesting to the reader.  

You can NOT reverse the order of the words in the attributive phrase if there is a pronoun.  Take a look at the following example:

CORRECT "My wallet is missing.  Someone stole it!" he yelled
INCORRECT "My wallet is missing.  Someone stole it!" yelled he

If the quotation contains an exclamation mark (!) or question mark (?), the next word is not capitalized unless it is a name.  Take a look at this example:

"Where's my ticket?asked Mary.

This quotation ends with a question mark (?); the following word is askedAsked is NOT capitalized because, although there is a question mark (?) before asked, the sentence does not end until we write asked Mary

book recommendation

cover Here's help for anyone who has something to say or write but has difficulty doing so. Better Grammar in 30 Minutes A Day features thorough coverage of key grammar skills, clear explanations with a minimum of grammatical terms, and an abundance of exercises and activities to help reinforce new skill development. An answer key in the back encourages readers to work at their own pace.  Click here for more information.

Quiz  

Show all the different ways of writing the following sentences.

1. The chairman asked, "Where is my limousine?"

_________________________________________________________________

2. My sister screamed, "You took my diary!"

_________________________________________________________________

3. I said, "I didn't take it."

_________________________________________________________________

4. Amanda declared, "I will be president one day.  I will be the first U.S. president."

_________________________________________________________________

 

 

1.  Answer: 

"Where is my limousine?" asked the chairman.

"Where is my limousine?"  the chairman asked.

Explanation: Notice that there is a question mark (?) within the quotation marks.  If the quote should include a question mark or an exclamation mark (!), the punctuation must be within the quotation marks.  In this sentence, the question mark is used because the person asked a question.  In addition, notice that the word after the question mark does not begin with a capital letter (asked and the).  This is because the sentence is not completed until the end of the attributive phrase (asked the chairman).  This is common in all types of literature.

2.  Answer:  

"You took my diary!" my sister screamed.

"You took my diary!"  screamed my sister.

3.  Answer:  

"I didn't take it," I said.

Explanation: The comma is inside the quotation marks.  

 

4.  Answer:  

"I will be president one day," Amanda declared.  "I will be the first U.S. president."

"I will be president one day," declared Amanda.  " I will be the first U.S. president."

"I will be president one day.  I will be the first U.S. president," Amanda declared. 

"I will be president one day.  I will be the first U.S. president," declared Amanda.

     Explanation: There are lots of possibilities for this one.  You can break up the quote into 2 parts and put the attributive phrase in the middle, or you can keep the quote together.  It is important to note that you do NOT use a pair of quotation marks for every sentence.  You use the closing quotation marks when the quote is completed.  Then you insert another pair of quotation marks when the quote begins again.  This rule is best illustrated in the first and second sentences above.  

Rules to Remember!

1 Do not reverse the words in the attributive phrase if there is a pronoun.
2 To see our lesson on quoted speech and reported speech, click here.
3 To see our lesson on commas, click here.
4 To see our lesson on using other words for say, click here.

©2003 Advanced Learning Center.  All rights reserved.  If you find an error on this Web site, please email us and let us know.  We appreciate all feedback and suggestions.