![]() Punctuating dialogue might not sound like a very exciting topic or a lot of fun as a writer to study – but it is very important in making sure your dialogue exchanges between characters make sense to your readers! Sus últimas palabras fueron: «No pasará nada».Learning how to punctuate dialogue is important when writing the conversations between your characters. Quotes, or repeating what someone else has said, are enclosed in comillas.įue Descartes quien dijo: «Pienso, luego existo». Notice the position of the period (full stop) and comma go after the final closing comilla. –Puedes llegar a ser un buen jugador –le expliqué y pensé, «aunque nunca tan bueno como yo». «Hay algo raro aquí», pensó el detective. These are known as comillas angulares, comillas latinas, and also comillas españolas. When a person is directly THINKING instead of speaking, then the punctuation « » (comillas) are used instead of the dash. In this case we use a colon after the "speaking verb". However, sometimes you have what the narrator says before the speech. Until now, we have only seen the attributive (speaking verb) after what is being said. If the narrator’s comment has nothing to do with a speaking or thinking verb (including related actions like shouting, whispering etc.) then the narrator’s sentence begins with a capital letter. However, if the first part ends in a question mark, exclamation mark or an ellipsis (three dots), then this goes at the end of the first part. Since the punctuation mark is a comma, the second part continues with a lowercase letter. Here the dialogue is a longer sentence that is interrupted by the attributive. –Estoy lista –dijo ella–, y nadie me va a parar. If it helps, you can think of the dashes in –dijo ella– as parentheses. Since it is a new sentence, the second part begins with a capital letter. In the example above, Estoy lista should end in a period (full stop) but instead, it goes after the dash at the end of the attributive. This is followed by the final punctuation mark of the first part of speech. Me voy a la fiesta.įirst we add a dash to the end of the attributive. What happens if there is more dialogue after the attributive? Here it appears at the end of the attributive. The second speech does NOT have the period (full stop) directly after what is said. The first speech has the question marks directly after the words. The speech of each person is written a separate line. –Sí, estoy bien –le contestó Angélica con una sonrisa. Remember, the speaker’s attributive begins with a lowercase letter. ![]() See how there is a space between what is being said and the dash that is joined to the attributive. We can only put a question mark, an explanation mark or ellipsis (three dots) in the speech part when it is followed by an attributive. There is no period (full stop) at the end of the first part since it is continued by an attributive. ![]() Now let’s look at both parts joined together: The speech and the attributive. ![]() More examples of “speaking” verbs in Spanish are:Īceptó (accepted), aconsejó (advised), admitió (admitted), afirmó (affirmed/asserted), amenazó (threatened), bromeó (joked), comentó (commented), concluyó (concluded), dijo (said), gritó (shouted), mintió (lied), preguntó (asked), prometió (promised), repitió (repeated), respondió (responded), rogó (begged), sugirió (suggested), susurró (whispered). Also notice how that first word, normally a “speaking” verb starts with a lowercase letter. It refers to a verb or action associated with speaking and who said it.Īgain, the dash is joined to first letter of the first word. An attributive in a dialogue credits the speech to the person who said it. Punctuation with AttributivesĪ dash is also used to introduce an attributive. Notice how there is no space between the dash and the first letter.ĭialogues do not end in a dash (–), only the normal punctuation sign (normally a full stop, question mark, or exclamation mark). In this article, we will simply call the long dash, a dash. Dialogues in Spanish start with a long dash – (raya) not a short dash - (guión).
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