Dialogue Punctuation Checker
Paste a scene to check how its dialogue is punctuated: the comma or period before a tag, the comma after a tag that comes first, a capital where a lowercase he said belongs, periods and commas that should sit inside the quotation marks, and action beats joined to quotes with a comma. Each flag shows the corrected wording. Free, no sign-up.
Runs entirely in your browser — your text is never uploaded.
Paste or type some dialogue to check its commas, periods, capital letters and quotation marks.
How to Use the Dialogue Punctuation Checker
- Paste your dialogue. Put each paragraph on its own line; the checker reads quotation marks one line at a time, so a speech that runs on to the next paragraph is allowed.
- Read the two colours. Rose is a rule break (a period before a tag, a missing comma after one); amber is a judgement call (an action joined to a quote by a comma, a lowercase opening).
- Use the table. It lists the line number, the rule, your wording and the corrected wording.
- Decide. The conventions are American. If you write British-style, with punctuation outside the quotation marks and single quotes, untick the placement check, and note that single-quote dialogue is not read.
The Rules It Applies
| Rule | Not this | This |
|---|---|---|
| A tag after a quote follows a comma, not a period | “I’m leaving.” she said. | “I’m leaving,” she said. |
| A tag before a quote takes a comma | She said “I’m leaving.” | She said, “I’m leaving.” |
| No comma after ? or ! | “Are you leaving?”, she asked. | “Are you leaving?” she asked. |
| The tag stays lowercase after , ? or ! | “Stop!” He shouted. | “Stop!” he shouted. |
| Periods and commas go inside the closing mark | He called it “a mistake”. | He called it “a mistake.” |
| An action is not a tag | “I’m leaving,” she grabbed her coat. | “I’m leaving.” She grabbed her coat. |
| The second half of a broken quote is lowercase | “I’m leaving,” she said, “When it rains.” | “I’m leaving,” she said, “when it rains.” |
| Speech that opens a sentence is capitalised | She said, “i’m leaving.” | She said, “I’m leaving.” |
These are the conventions of American usage, as set out in The Chicago Manual of Style and in Purdue OWL's guidance on quotations and commas. The comma that ends a quote before a tag stands in for the period the speech would otherwise take; after a question mark or an exclamation point the mark already does that job, so no comma follows and the tag stays lowercase.
Tags and Action Beats
A dialogue tag says who spoke, with a verb of speech: said, asked, replied, whispered, shouted. An action beat shows what the speaker does, with any other verb: she grabbed her coat, he shook his head. The two take different punctuation. A tag is part of the sentence the quote began, so it follows a comma and a lowercase pronoun. A beat is a sentence of its own, so the quote ends with a period and the beat starts with a capital: “I’m leaving.” She grabbed her coat. The checker treats a list of about seventy speech verbs as tags, and flags “I’m leaving,” she grabbed her coat as a possible action beat. Verbs such as smiled, laughed and nodded are the grey area: you cannot smile words, so many editors treat “Fine,” he nodded as a beat, while many novelists accept it. The checker marks it as a judgement call and lets you choose.
What It Does Not Read
- Single-quote dialogue. British editions often use single quotation marks; the checker reads only double marks, straight or curly.
- Dashes and interruptions. “I thought—” “Don’t.” and trailing-off ellipses are left alone.
- Nested quotes and long speeches. Quotation marks are paired per line, so a quote inside a quote can confuse the pairing.
- Names after a quote. “Stop!” Tom shouted is not flagged for the capital, because the checker cannot tell a name from a pronoun by capitalisation alone. It only checks the capitalised pronouns and articles that open a tag (He, She, They, The).
How Accurate Is It?
The rules are fixed patterns, so the test is whether they agree with an editor. On 40 hand-labelled lines they did, and on 30 more written afterwards and run before any tuning, 27 matched. The three misses were a capitalised Will after a tag, a continuation after a misplaced comma, and a quoted word after shouted that does not need a comma; all three are fixed. On about 1,300 quoted passages in this site's own guides, which are quoted titles and labels rather than dialogue, it raised 9 flags: 7 periods or commas outside the closing mark, 1 comma after an exclamation point inside a title, and 1 false alarm from mixed straight and curly marks. Real fiction is messier, so expect it to miss some patterns and to ask about some deliberate choices.
Worked Example
The Try an example passage has 56 words on 10 lines, with 12 quotations. The checker flags 8 lines: five rule breaks (a period before she said, a missing comma after asked, a capitalised He after “Stop!”, a comma outside mistake”, and a comma after ?”) and three judgement calls (“I’ll be there,” she grabbed her coat, a capitalised When after a tag, and a lowercase i’m). The last two lines (“I know,” the old man said and “Wait,” said Tom. “I forgot my keys.”) pass.
Before
“I’m leaving.” she said.
After
“I’m leaving,” she said.
Before
He asked “Are you sure?”
After
He asked, “Are you sure?”
Before
“It was a mistake”, he said.
After
“It was a mistake,” he said.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Does the comma go inside the quotation marks?
- In American usage, yes: periods and commas go inside the closing quotation mark, whether or not they belong to the quoted words. “I’m leaving,” she said has the comma inside. British usage often places them outside when they are not part of the quoted words, which is why the checker lets you turn that check off.
- How do you punctuate a dialogue tag after a quote?
- End the quote with a comma instead of a period, close the quotation mark, and continue in lowercase: “I’m leaving,” she said. If the quote is a question or an exclamation, keep its own mark and drop the comma: “Are you leaving?” she asked.
- Should “he said” be capitalized after a question mark?
- No. A tag after a quote that ends in a comma, question mark or exclamation point continues the same sentence, so it starts lowercase: “Stop!” he shouted. A new sentence that starts with a capital is an action or a different speaker: “Stop!” He ran.
- Is “she smiled” a dialogue tag?
- Strictly, no. A tag uses a verb of speech; smiled, laughed, nodded and sighed describe an action. Many editors want “Fine.” She smiled. Others accept “Fine,” she smiled. The checker flags this as a judgement call so you can follow your house style or your own preference.
- How do you punctuate a quote interrupted by a tag?
- If the speech is one sentence, put a comma inside the first part, the tag, a comma, then the rest in lowercase: “I’m leaving,” she said, “when it rains.” If the first part ends a sentence, end it with a period inside the quote, finish the tag with a period, and start the next quote with a capital: “I’m leaving,” she said. “It’s raining.”
- Does it work for British single-quote dialogue?
- No. It reads only double quotation marks, straight or curly. Convert single quotes first, or check the punctuation by hand. For British double-quote style, untick the placement check so that punctuation outside the marks is not flagged.
- Is my text uploaded anywhere?
- No. The checker runs entirely in your browser; nothing you paste is sent to a server or stored.