Skip to content
LessonPrint

Inside or Outside the Quotation Marks? is a free printable Grade 5 English worksheet on where each punctuation mark goes around a quotation in US style, aligned to Common Core standard L.5.2. It prints 8 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask different questions, so no two students in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.

Set 8 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

Next set

One paper per student

12345678910111213141516171819202122232425

Set 1 has all 25 in a single PDF. All 25 sets ask different questions.

Inside or Outside the Quotation Marks?

L.5.2

NameDate

Circle the right answer.

1.In US style, where do a comma and a period go when they meet a closing quotation mark?
  • A.Always inside it
  • B.Inside only if the quotation is a question
  • C.Always outside it
2.Ben asked, "Is it raining" — Ben's words are the question. Where does the question mark go?
  • A.Outside the closing quotation mark
  • B.Inside the closing quotation mark
  • C.After the word asked
3.Dad said "soon"; we waited an hour. Where does the semicolon go?
  • A.Outside the closing quotation mark
  • B.Inside the closing quotation mark
  • C.Before the word soon
4.Mia said, "The bus is here" — the sentence ends after here. Where does the period go?
  • A.Outside the closing quotation mark
  • B.Inside the closing quotation mark
  • C.After the word said
5.Grandma's words are Where are my keys, and "asked Grandma" comes after them. What goes after keys?
  • A.A question mark inside the closing quotation mark
  • B.A question mark after Grandma
  • C.A comma inside the closing quotation mark
6.A report calls the storm "the worst in fifty years." Why is there no comma before the quotation?
  • A.The quotation is a question
  • B.The quoted words fit into the writer's own sentence
  • C.Reports never use commas
7.Kai said that his mom told him to "wait here." Kai is quoted saying his mom's words. In US style, what goes around a quotation inside a quotation?
  • A.Single quotation marks
  • B.Double quotation marks
  • C.Parentheses
8.Ava's words are We won, and "said Ava" comes after them. Where does the comma after won go?
  • A.Outside the closing quotation mark
  • B.There is no comma
  • C.Inside the closing quotation mark

LessonPrint · L.5.2 · Set 8 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Inside or Outside the Quotation Marks?

Set 8. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.Always inside it
  2. 2.Inside the closing quotation mark
  3. 3.Outside the closing quotation mark
  4. 4.Inside the closing quotation mark
  5. 5.A question mark inside the closing quotation mark
  6. 6.The quoted words fit into the writer's own sentence
  7. 7.Single quotation marks
  8. 8.Inside the closing quotation mark

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to L.5.2 of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts.