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This is the first in a mini-series about how to use quotation marks. Here’s a straightforward example:
“The train is coming,” she said.
Note that the comma comes before the final speech mark and there’s a full stop after ‘said’.
Or this can be turned around with the use of a colon after ‘said’, as follows:
She said: “The train is coming.” Note that the actual quote begins with a capital letter and the full stop comes before the final speech mark.
It is also OK to use a comma instead of a colon, for example:
She said, “The train is coming.”
The examples above use double quote marks (“). You can also use single quote marks (‘) if you wish, for example:
‘The train is coming,’ she said.
Or
She said: ‘The train is coming.’
Don’t mix and match between the two styles in your writing: be consistent.
Wordwatch Towers 