Australian dialogue punctuation

Use single quotation marks for direct speech

In Australian publishing, single quotation marks are commonly used for a character’s spoken words. Curly marks are typographically polished, while straight marks are often produced during drafting. SaidSense accepts both styles in its checker and generates Australian single quotation marks in the line builder.

Use a comma before a dialogue tag

When a dialogue tag such as said, asked or whispered follows the spoken words, the tag belongs to the same sentence. Use a comma inside the closing quotation mark unless the dialogue ends with a question mark or exclamation mark.

Questions and exclamations stay inside the quotation marks

A question mark or exclamation mark replaces the comma, but the following dialogue tag still begins with a lower case letter unless it starts with a name. The punctuation belongs to the spoken sentence.

An action beat is a new sentence

When the words are followed by an action rather than a speech verb, close the dialogue with its normal full stop, question mark or exclamation mark. Begin the action with a capital letter. This is why “I agree,” she nodded is incorrect while “I agree.” She nodded is correct.

Start a new paragraph when the speaker changes

Each new speaker normally begins a new paragraph. This gives the reader a visual signal that the voice has changed. Keep one character’s connected speech and actions in the same paragraph unless there is a deliberate structural reason to break it.

Quotes inside dialogue use double quotation marks

When a character quotes someone else within their own dialogue, the outer direct speech uses single quotation marks and the quotation inside it uses double quotation marks. This nesting distinguishes the two voices.

A quick proofreading method

Proofread dialogue in two separate passes. First, look only at the quotation marks and paragraph breaks. Check that every opening mark has a closing partner and that each new speaker begins a new paragraph. Second, look at the words immediately after each closing quotation mark. Decide whether they form a speech tag or a new action sentence.

If the following words describe speaking, use the tag pattern: ‘Come back,’ Mara said. If they describe movement or behaviour, use the action pattern: ‘Come back.’ Mara closed the gate. This two-pass method catches many punctuation errors without requiring the writer to analyse the entire sentence at once. Reading the dialogue aloud can then reveal missing words, unnatural pauses and places where punctuation does not match the intended voice.

Examples at a glance