Question

which punctuation mark should be used to offset speech tags in a quatation?

Answer 1

In English, when using quotation marks to indicate direct speech, a comma is typically used to offset speech tags (e.g., "he said," "she asked"). The general structure looks like this:

1. **Before the speech tag**: When the speech tag comes after the quotation.
- Example: "I'm going to the store," she said.

2. **After the speech tag**: If the speech tag comes before the quotation, a comma is used before the opening quotation marks.
- Example: She said, "I'm going to the store."

If the quotation ends in a period, question mark, or exclamation point, those marks should be placed inside the quotation marks, and a comma is generally not used before the speech tag in that case.

- Example: "I'm going to the store!" she exclaimed.

Remember to adjust according to the context and punctuation rules of your specific writing style (e.g., American vs. British English).