Which sentence correctly uses quotation marks with attribution?

Which sentence correctly uses quotation marks with attribution?

• A. She said, Are you coming?
• B. She said, "Are you coming?"
• C. "Are you coming?" she said.
• D. She said: "Are you coming?"

Answer: (B)

Placing punctuation with a speaker tag and dialogue follows a clear pattern: when the speaker tag comes first, put a comma after the tag and then start the spoken words with quotation marks. The quote carries its own ending punctuation inside the marks. So, She said, "Are you coming?" is correct because the tag comes before the quotation, the comma after the tag separates the tag from the spoken words, and the question mark sits inside the quotation marks. The other options break this pattern in different ways: A lacks quotation marks around the spoken words; D uses a colon after the tag, which isn’t standard here; and C presents the quote first and then the tag, which is a different, less consistent form for this question.

Placing punctuation with a speaker tag and dialogue follows a clear pattern: when the speaker tag comes first, put a comma after the tag and then start the spoken words with quotation marks. The quote carries its own ending punctuation inside the marks.

So, She said, "Are you coming?" is correct because the tag comes before the quotation, the comma after the tag separates the tag from the spoken words, and the question mark sits inside the quotation marks.

The other options break this pattern in different ways: A lacks quotation marks around the spoken words; D uses a colon after the tag, which isn’t standard here; and C presents the quote first and then the tag, which is a different, less consistent form for this question.