If you begin a sentence with a speech tag, put a comma after the speech tag and before the first quotation mark. Put the end punctuation – the period – inside the last quotation mark.
Dad said, “Please put the car into the garage.”
If you begin the sentence with a quotation, a comma will go at the end of the quoted words, inside the quotation marks, like this:
“Please put the car into the garage,” said Dad.
All end punctuation goes inside the quotation marks. Look at these examples:
Jim said, “Look at that tall giraffe!”
Billy wondered, “Have you seen the monkeys yet?”
Dad told us, “It’s time to go back to the car.”
A comma comes after a speech tag, before the quotation marks when you begin with the speech tag. A comma goes inside the quotation marks at the end of the quoted words if the sentence begins with the quote.
▶It’s your turn. Where should you put a comma and a period in this sentence? Tom said “Let’s go get some ice cream” Did you put the comma after the speech tag, before the quotation marks? Did you put a period at the end of the quoted words, inside the quotation marks? Good for you!