How to Use Exclamation Points
An exclamation point is used to show strong emphasis or importance.
- Example: “Put down the box!” the woman yelled.
Ordinarily, we would use a comma to separate out the words that say who says a quote (a signal tag). However, a comma is not used next to an exclamation point.
Exclamation points are rarely used in research writing. When it is used in a direct quote, only one exclamation point is used. Don’t add additional exclamation points to be more emphatic.
- Correct: Stop!
- Incorrect: Stop!!
