Which sentence correctly uses quotation marks to enclose direct speech?

• A. He said, "We are ready."
• B. He said We are ready.
• C. He said: "We are ready."
• D. He said, We are ready.

Answer: (A)

Direct speech is shown by enclosing the exact words spoken in quotation marks. When a reporting verb like said comes before the spoken words in the same sentence, you usually insert a comma after the verb and then begin the quote with an opening quotation mark. The quoted words start with a capital letter, and the ending punctuation belongs inside the closing quotation mark if it’s part of the spoken sentence.

So, He said, "We are ready." is correct because the comma after said introduces the direct speech, the quotation marks enclose the exact words, and the period goes inside the closing quotation mark.

The other forms fail because: the sentence does not use quotation marks at all, so the spoken words aren’t clearly identified; the colon version uses a punctuation mark that’s not standard for introducing a short spoken phrase in this context; and the sentence without quotation marks doesn’t enclose the direct speech at all.