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Snarf Posted 13 years ago
Grammar

A Comma and Capitalization Query

1. The police officer had said, "It was a stupid thing to do."
2. The police officer had said "it was a stupid thing to do."

Are both of those correct? Am I right in making the "it" in the second one lowercase since there is no comma before it? Also, is it better with or without the comma in the first place?

Thanks.
  

Top answer

Snarf Are both of those correct? No, the capitalization is required. Snarf Am I right in making the "it" in the second one lowercase since there is no comma before it?

— RandomGuy

  • Snarf Are both of those correct?
  • No, the capitalization is required.
  • Snarf Am I right in making the "it" in the second one lowercase since there is no comma before it?
  • No.
  • Where did you get that idea?
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15 Answers
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SnarfAre both of those correct?
No, the capitalization is required.
Snarf Am I right in making the "it" in the second one lowercase since there is no comma before it?
No. Where did you get that idea?
SnarfAlso, is it better with or without the comma in the first place?
The comma seems to b
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Aspara Gus Snarf Am I right in making the "it" in the second one lowercase since there is no comma before it?No. Where did you get that idea?
I was just reading an article that said not to capitalize the first word of the full quote if it follows "that," and I was wondering if that's because there's no comma in front of "that," for example:

The police
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This one is right.
Snarf1. The police officer had said, "It was a stupid thing to do."
And yes, in direct speech, every time a speaker says something, you have to capitalize the first letter of the first word. Therefore "it" in lower case in a direct speech is not correct.

And if if the direct speech comes after the reporting speech
S
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Can you give me an example of indirect speech?

Thanks.
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He said, "I was making tea yesterday."
He said that he had been making tea the previous day,
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SnarfI was just reading an article that said not to capitalize the first word of the full quote if it follows "that," and I was wondering if that's because there's no comma in front of "that," for example:
The article was probably referring to indirect speech. If the word that is stated or implied, then do not use a comma, and do not use quotation marks
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Aspara Gus SnarfI was just reading an article that said not to capitalize the first word of the full quote if it follows "that," and I was wondering if that's because there's no comma in front of "that," for example:The article was probably referring to indirect speech. If the word that is there or implied, then do not use a comma, and do not use quotation marks. Otherwis
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SnarfThe mayor said that "complaints are part of the day's work."
Ah, I see. The article was referring to "partial" quotations. Consider this a rather unusual exception, which I overlooked, to the no-quotation-marks-after-that rule.
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Aspara Gus SnarfThe mayor said that "complaints are part of the day's work."Ah, I see. The article was referring to "partial" quotations. Consider this a rather unusual exception, which I overlooked, to the no-quotation-marks-after-that rule.
I never knew that there was such a rule. What about the capitalization-of-the-beginning-of-a-quote rule, since that's t
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SnarfAnd that quote is presented as a full quote, not a partial one:
In that case, this is correct:

The mayor said "Complaints are part of the day’s work"

This is not correct, regardless of what your source says:

The mayor said that "complaints are part of the day’s work."

And neither is this:

The m
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