However, this is often a matter of personal taste. In print, titles often appear in italics without quotation marks

4 Noun + reporting verb may be in subject + verb order or may be
inverted (verb + subject) [> App 45.1]:

'This is a serious offence,' the judge said/said the judge

If the subject is a long one, then inversion is usual:

'Where's this train going⁹' asked the lady sitting beside me

With a pronoun subject, inversion is rare in modern English:

'This is a serious offence,' he said

Some reporting verbs, particularly those requiring an object, such as assure, inform and tell cannot be inverted {> App 45.2]. Adverbs of manner usually come at the end [compare > 7.16.1]:

'Go away¹' said Mr Tomkins/Mr Tomkins said angrily

5 Quotation marks are generally not required with reporting verbs
such as ask oneself, think and wonder wonder they are used to
describe 'direct thoughts' in 'free indirect speech' [> 15.27.3]:

So that was their little game he thought Where are they now, he wondered

Direct speech in context

Printed dialogue

Printed dialogue is particularly common in works of fiction and can occur without connecting narrative:

A tissue of lies!' Boyle cried

'You think so?' the inspector asked

'Think so? I know it'

'And no doubt you can prove it First there are a few important points that need answering ' In this kind of dialogue, each new speech begins on a new line in a new paragraph. Once the characters have been established, it is not necessary to go on repeating names (or pronouns) and reporting verbs - except to remind the reader from time to time who is speaking. If a speech goes on for more than a paragraph, we put opening quotation marks at the beginning of each paragraph, but closing ones only at the end of the final paragraph.

Dialogue can also occur within connecting narrative:

Boyle was agitated He paced the room as the inspector reconstructed the crime Finally, he could bear it no longer. A tissue of lies ' he cried

The inspector paused and asked with heavy irony, 'You think so?' 'Think so? I know it,' Boyle snapped The inspector was unconvinced 'And no doubt you can prove it' he said First there are a few important points that need answering,' he added, glancing quickly at his notebook In this kind of dialogue, the words spoken by the characters are quoted within each new paragraph as part of the narration.

15 Direct and indirect speech