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Believer Posted 19 years ago
Grammar
comma necessary or not
Hi,
If you are quoting something however short or long, do you have to put a comma after the word 'said'?
How about after the word 'named', do you have put a comma after that?
I am asking these because I see different ways of writing for these types of situations.
If you are quoting something however short or long, do you have to put a comma after the word 'said'?
How about after the word 'named', do you have put a comma after that?
I am asking these because I see different ways of writing for these types of situations.
Top answer
" A comma is very common especially when the quotation is short. I don't understand your question regarding 'named'. Cheers CB
- " A comma is very common especially when the quotation is short.
- I don't understand your question regarding 'named'.
- Cheers CB
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9 Answers
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Hi Believer (again 
)
You can write:
He said, "I want to go home." Or:
He said: "I want to go home."
)You can write:
He said, "I want to go home." Or:
He said: "I want to go home."
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I think, Believer, is referring to "My friend named Peter ... " (No comma needed).
Believer, please let me know whether I guessed correctly.
CB
1. He said, "I want to go home." Or:
2. He said: "I want to go home."
Is #1 with the comma BrE, and #2 with the colon AmE?
Believer, please let me know whether I guessed correctly.
CB
1. He said, "I want to go home." Or:
2. He said: "I want to go home."
Is #1 with the comma BrE, and #2 with the colon AmE?
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I have NEVER used a colon before a direct quotation, so it's not a "default" American English style.
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Hi, Yoong Liat.
I think I was thinking about those names of long articles that are longer than a word or two. As to the first question, I am seeing more and more cases where short contents are quoted without having a comma in front of it like this:
When asked about our favorite sports, I said "Basketball" and he said "Baseball." (See no commas.)
When a
I think I was thinking about those names of long articles that are longer than a word or two. As to the first question, I am seeing more and more cases where short contents are quoted without having a comma in front of it like this:
When asked about our favorite sports, I said "Basketball" and he said "Baseball." (See no commas.)
When a
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BelieverHi, Yoong Liat.
When asked about our favorite sports, I said "Basketball" and he said "Baseball." (See no commas.)
When asked about what we do during our spare time, I said "I play basketball," and he said "I play baseball."
(See still no commas but I think commas are preferred. What is the guideline?)
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If you are directly quoting someone, then yes, you would put the comma after said.
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So you only use a comma affter the word said when quoting? I only ask becasue in " the only grammar book you will ever need" there is an example paragrah for useing transitional words. In this paragraph there is a comma affter siad in the sentence " Sarah said, Bill was just my type." But there is no comma affter said in following sentence " She said that he was quite an av
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In the first example in the book, there are no quotation marks around "Bill was just my type"? I would say this is bad advice.
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