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Lundbye95 Posted 15 years ago
Grammar
Colon instead of comma?
Hi again!
I was wondering why a lot of british homepages, such as BBC etc., use colon instead of a comma when it comes to direct speech.
For example this sentence:
The Leicester cueman said: "Last year I got to the semi-finals and I felt drained, I had nothing left, and lost to Graeme Dott."
and this:
Ding, who now meets Stephen Hendry in what promises to be a cracking second round match on Thursday, added: "I'm a bit tired and it was a slow start.
I've read in a lot of grammarbooks that you have to place a comma before direct speech (in quotations). For example: Peter said, "I'm not hungry."
Can somebody explain why journalists on BBC (etc.) uses a colon here? I can't find a rule about the colon regarding direct speech.
I was wondering why a lot of british homepages, such as BBC etc., use colon instead of a comma when it comes to direct speech.
For example this sentence:
The Leicester cueman said: "Last year I got to the semi-finals and I felt drained, I had nothing left, and lost to Graeme Dott."
and this:
Ding, who now meets Stephen Hendry in what promises to be a cracking second round match on Thursday, added: "I'm a bit tired and it was a slow start.
I've read in a lot of grammarbooks that you have to place a comma before direct speech (in quotations). For example: Peter said, "I'm not hungry."
Can somebody explain why journalists on BBC (etc.) uses a colon here? I can't find a rule about the colon regarding direct speech.
Top answer
You have put your finger on a great issue, and one I enjoy as someone who teaches drafting for reporters. Here is how I recommend you view this issue, although there are others who would certainly object. The BBC is reporting, not narrating.
- You have put your finger on a great issue, and one I enjoy as someone who teaches drafting for reporters.
- Here is how I recommend you view this issue, although there are others who would certainly object.
- The BBC is reporting, not narrating.
- In other words, the comma is used when an author is narrating a conversation where the larger break of a colon would not convey the flow of the conversation.
- " In the BBC examples you gave, the goal of the sentence is not to narrate accurately, but to report on what was said.
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1 Answers
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You have put your finger on a great issue, and one I enjoy as someone who teaches drafting for reporters. Here is how I recommend you view this issue, although there are others who would certainly object.
The BBC is reporting, not narrating. In other words, the comma is used when an author is narrating a conversation where the larger break of a colon would not convey the flow of the
The BBC is reporting, not narrating. In other words, the comma is used when an author is narrating a conversation where the larger break of a colon would not convey the flow of the
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