Direct Speech Grammar
Notes: C is the speaker, S is the direct speech. Brackets [] indicate a placeholder for one punctuation mark inside them.
English
Direct speech before the author:
"S[,!?…]" said C.
Direct speech after the author:
C said: "S[.!?…]"
Author between direct speech:
"S," said C, "S."
"S[,!?…]" said C. "S."
Dialogues:
Same rules: author words may be omitted. Each section starts on a new indented line starting with a capital letter.
Spanish
Direct speech before the author:
«S[,]» dijo C.
«S[.!…]» dijo C.
«¿S?» dijo C.
«¡S!» exclamó C.
Direct speech after the author:
C dijo: «S[.!…]»
C dijo: «S[!?…]»
C dijo: «¿S?»
C exclamó: «¡S!»
Author between direct speech:
«S,» dijo C, «S.»
«S[.!…]» dijo C, «S.»
«¿S?» dijo C, «S.»
«¡S!» exclamó C, «S.»
Dialogues
Same rules: author words may be omitted, and without quotation marks. Each line starts with a dash. Examples below. C: — S[.!…]
— S[,] — dijo C.
— S, — dijo C, — S.
— ¿S? — dijo C. — S.
— ¡S! — exclamó C.
French
Direct speech before the author:
« S[,] », dit C.
« S[.!?…] », dit C.
Direct speech after the author:
C dit : « S[.!?…] »
C demanda : « S[!?…] »
C s’exclama : « S[.!?…] »
Author between direct speech:
« S, » dit C, « S. »
« S[.!?…] » dit C, « S. »
« S[!?…] » dit C, « S. »
Dialogues:
Same rules: author words may be omitted, and without quotation marks. Each line starts with a dash. Examples below. C : — S[.!?…]
— S[,] — dit C.
— S, — dit C, — S.
— S[!?…] — dit C.
Russian
Notes: П = прямая речь; А = автор.
Direct speech before the author:
«П», — а.
«П[!?…]» — а.
Direct speech after the author:
А: «П».
А: «П[!?…]»
Author between Ddirect speech:
П, — а, — п».
«П, — а. — П».
«П[!?…] — а. — П». «П, — а и а: — П».
Direct speech between author:
А: «П», — а.
А: «П[!?…]» – а.
Dialogues:
Similar rules: author words may be omitted, and without quotation marks. Each line starts with a dash. Examples below. A: — П[.!?…]
— П[,!?…] — а.
— П, — а, — п.
— П[!?…] — а. — П.
Page published: March 12, 2026