When you include a quoted statement inside a sentence, you put quotation marks around the quoted words. Be sure to place a comma before the quotation marks. Here are some examples of what I mean:
My teacher always says, “Once begun is half done.”
My grandmother often told me, “One hand washes the other.”
Notice how the comma goes before the quotation marks. That comma signals that a quotation is coming next.
If your sentence begins with the quote, the comma goes at the end of the quoted words, but inside the quotation marks. Look at these examples:
“Be careful,” Dad told me.
“Give me that book,” my brother yelled.
If you begin a sentence with a quote and use more words after the quote, a comma must go at the end of the quote, inside the quotation marks. If a quotation comes later in the sentence, put the comma before the quote, outside the quotation marks.
▶It’s your turn. Where would you put a comma in this sentence? Jack told me “The game is at 7:00.” Did you put it before the quote marks? Good for you.