Cheap Proofreading Tips – Breaking speech

Writing tips: breaking speech

Dave said, “I know you are pregnant, but we can still go to the concert and have fun!” – this is correct.

“I know you are pregnant,” Dave said, “but we can still go to the concert and have fun!” – this is not correct.

If speech is broken at a point of punctuation, in this case a comma, you use a full stop and a capital letter.

“I know you are pregnant,” Dave said. “But we can still go to the concert and have fun!” – this is correct.

“I know you are pregnant, but we can still go to the concert –” Dave hinted, “- and have fun!” – this is correct.

“I know you are pregnant, but we can still go to the concert,” Dave hinted, “and have fun!” – this is also correct.

NOTE. If you used: Dave hinted. (with a full stop) then the start of the next piece of speech should be with a capital letter. If you are breaking speech use a comma.