On the exam: DO NOT change direct quotes into indirect quotes. DO NOT change indirect quotes into direct quotes. If there is an error in the quote, it will be in the commas and capitalization.

In most cases, what someone said can be either a direct quote (with quotation marks around it) or an indirect quote (without quotation marks). You use a variety in your writing to make reading easier.

1. Direct quotation, attribution at end, first reference with full identification of speaker

EX: "False titles are an annoying invention of modern journalism," said Roy Reed, former journalism professor.

• Note the punctuation: comma after quote, comma after title.

2. Direct quotation, attribution at beginning, first reference with full identification of speaker

EX: Roy Reed, former journalism professor, said, "False titles are an annoying invention of modern journalism."

• Note the punctuation: comma after title AND before quote.

3. Indirect quotation, attribution at end, first reference with full identification of speaker

EX: False titles are an annoying invention of modern journalism, said Roy Reed, former journalism professor.

• Note the punctuation: comma after quote and title. Just like direct, only without quotation marks.

4. Indirect quotation, attribution preceding the quotation, second reference

EX: Reed said false titles are an annoying invention of modern journalism.

• Note the difference: When the attribution comes first in an indirect quote, there is no comma after the attribution.
• RULE: The only time you do NOT set off the attribution from the quote with a comma is in an indirect quote with the attribution at the beginning.

5. Attribution in the middle of the quotation.

EX: "Being a newspaper reporter is important work," said Denise Malan, Morning News reporter, "and you should take your job seriously."

• Notice the use of commas; no period until the end of the sentence. Compare this to No. 6.

6. Attribution at the end of the first sentence in a two-sentence quotation.

EX: "Being a newspaper reporter is important work," said Denise Malan, Morning News reporter. "Students should take their jobs seriously."

• Notice the period at the end of the attribution. Placing a comma there instead would create a comma splice, a very bad error in grammar.

7. Attribution before an incomplete (partial) quotation, first reference

EX: Bob Douglas, former editor of the Arkansas Gazette, said the Arkansas Gazette never had a chance of surviving "once those vultures from Gannett bought it."

• Notice there is no comma after the attribution, nor is "the" capitalized. Compare to No. 2.

8. Attribution after an incomplete (partial) quotation, second reference

EX: The newspaper never had a chance of surviving "once those vultures from Gannett bought it," Douglas said.

• When the attribution follows the partial quote immediately, a comma sets off the attribution
• In second reference, the word "said" comes after the name. In first reference, "said" comes first in sentences that have the attribution at the end or in the middle.