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Ellycat Posted 17 years ago
Grammar
Comma after a question mark and correct usage of commas.
Could you please tell me if this sentence has the correct punctuation marks in the correct order, and if it makes sense?
"Is that you Susan?," he asked the maid downstairs.
Or should the comma come before the question mark and hence 'he' will start with a capital letter. If it is correct, is it always true that commas follow the question mark and not vice versa?
One more question please. When I attended a Grammar school 30 years ago, I left after my G.C.E. o'levels because of the clamour for jobs, so the memory of my grammar is diminishing fast, but with your expert help, I hope to rectify that.[Y]
When at school I was sure that there was a rule with commas that they didn't come before 'and' or 'because', e.g., it seems to have drained him and created a bout of "severe cramp," because he was unable to complete the match.
You must use the commas, and your sentence will look like this:
Many thanks in advance.
P.S. We all know that school rhymes are not always true, as in "I before E except after C". I think I could name about ten off the top of my head where this isn't true, e.g., weird, vein, etc. etc.
"Is that you Susan?," he asked the maid downstairs.
Or should the comma come before the question mark and hence 'he' will start with a capital letter. If it is correct, is it always true that commas follow the question mark and not vice versa?
One more question please. When I attended a Grammar school 30 years ago, I left after my G.C.E. o'levels because of the clamour for jobs, so the memory of my grammar is diminishing fast, but with your expert help, I hope to rectify that.[Y]
When at school I was sure that there was a rule with commas that they didn't come before 'and' or 'because', e.g., it seems to have drained him and created a bout of "severe cramp," because he was unable to complete the match.
You must use the commas, and your sentence will look like this:
Many thanks in advance.
P.S. We all know that school rhymes are not always true, as in "I before E except after C". I think I could name about ten off the top of my head where this isn't true, e.g., weird, vein, etc. etc.
Top answer
Could you please tell me if this sentence has the correct punctuation marks in the correct order, and if it makes sense? -- It makes sense, but the comma should be deleted; punctuation marks (except brackets) cannot follow each other directly. Or should the comma come before the question mark and hence 'he' will start with a capital letter.
- Could you please tell me if this sentence has the correct punctuation marks in the correct order, and if it makes sense?
- -- It makes sense, but the comma should be deleted; punctuation marks (except brackets) cannot follow each other directly.
- Or should the comma come before the question mark and hence 'he' will start with a capital letter.
- -- No.
- See above .
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5 Answers
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Could you please tell me if this sentence has the correct punctuation marks in the correct order, and if it makes sense? "Is that you Susan?," he asked the maid downstairs.-- It makes sense, but the comma should be deleted; punctuation marks (except brackets) cannot follow each other directly.
Or should the comma come before the question mark and hence 'he' will start with a capi
Or should the comma come before the question mark and hence 'he' will start with a capi
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If the letter after a question mark must be capitalized, shouldn't the correct version of this be:
"Is that you Susan?" He asked the maid downstairs.
If not, what's the grammar rule here?
"Is that you Susan?" He asked the maid downstairs.
If not, what's the grammar rule here?
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The accepted method is:
"Is that you, Susan?" he asked the maid downstairs.
There are two 'rules' involved here. (1) The punctuation within the quoation marks belongs to the quote or utterance and is not a punctuation of the overall sentence. (2) Quotations are set off by the introductory or other text (He said; said he) with quotation marks alone;
"Is that you, Susan?" he asked the maid downstairs.
There are two 'rules' involved here. (1) The punctuation within the quoation marks belongs to the quote or utterance and is not a punctuation of the overall sentence. (2) Quotations are set off by the introductory or other text (He said; said he) with quotation marks alone;
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Have a look here: http://www.whitesmoke.com/question-mark-usage
where it says
Question mark style conventions
1. Do not use a comma after a question mark occurring in the middle of a sentence.
where it says
Question mark style conventions
1. Do not use a comma after a question mark occurring in the middle of a sentence.
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