1. He said, "I like this song."→ He said

2. "Where is your sister?" she asked me.→ She asked me

3. "I don't speak Italian," she said.→ She said

4. "Say hello to Jim," they said.→ They asked me

5. "The film began at seven o'clock," he said.→ He said

6. "Don't play on the grass, boys," she said.→ She told the boys

7. "Where have you spent your money?" she asked him.→ She asked him

8. "I never make mistakes," he said.→ He said

9. "Does she know Robert?" he wanted to know.→ He wanted to know

10. "Don't try this at home," the stuntman told the audience.→ The stuntman advised the audience

Some writers have their own system of quotation marks, e.g., double quotation marks for speech and single quotation marks for thoughts. The most important rule when using these little punctuation marks is that the style of the opening and closing quotation marks match, e.g., 'Good morning, Mary,' called Adrian, or "Good morning, Stephen," called Jane.

DOUBLE OR SINGLE QUOTATION? The short answer is that it depends on what country you are writing in. In British and Australian English, one typically uses single quotation marks. If writing in North America, double quotation marks are typically used.

Use single quotation marks for a quotation or title using quotation mark inside another quotation or title which uses quotation marks.

Incorrect: She asked, "How many of you have read "The Lady of Shalott"?" ("The Lady of Shalott" is a poem. Same kind of quotation mark confuses reader.)

Correct: She asked, "How many of you have read 'The Lady of Shalott'?"***********************************************************************Note: In the British English, the use of the single and double quotation marks is reversed from the way they are used in the United States. There the normal quotations and short titles are within single quotation marks. Double quotation marks are used for titles or quotations within quotation marks.