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Anonymous Posted 13 years ago
Grammar

Formal quote

Here's a rule for colon usage. Use a colon to set off a formal quote. The question is what distinguish a formal quote from an informal quote? Are there guidelines that must be met before an informal quote become a formal quote?
  

Top answer

Hi It's an interesting rule ... " The first is just something that I said; the second is a recognisable quote. I think I agree with that: the colon is appropriate if the speaker is consciously quoting someone else Dave

  • Hi It's an interesting rule ...
  • " The first is just something that I said; the second is a recognisable quote.
  • I think I agree with that: the colon is appropriate if the speaker is consciously quoting someone else Dave
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7 Answers
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Hi

It's an interesting rule ...

- I said, "It's about time I went home"'

- She quipped: "Parting is such sweet sorrow."

The first is just something that I said; the second is a recognisable quote. I think I agree with that: the colon is appropriate if the speaker is consciously quoting someone else

Dave
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Hi again

And I would say the same is true in journalism where you are, in effect, creating a quote ...

- The Prime Minister said: "Reducing the deficit is our main priority."

Dave
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MeathawkUse a colon to set off a formal quote.
I have never heard this before, but I can assure you that it has nothing to do with colon usage. As a rule of thumb, use a colon after an independent clause, rather than a fragment.
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Thanks for replying dave and Aspara.
Aspara GusI have never heard this before, but I can assure you that it has nothing to do with colon usage. As a rule of thumb, use a colon after an independent clause, rather than a fragment.
So here is what I got from a website:
We will often use a colon to separate an independent clause from a quotation (often of a ra
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And that is the great thing about forums: "Who to diss and who to trust."

Dave
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Meathawkwhat constitutes a quote as being formal
It contains formal English.
Meathawkand informal.
It contains informal English.
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Hi

I'd say that is exactly right ...

- The acting director often used her favourite quotation from Shakespeare's Tempest: "We are such stuff as dreams are made on; and our little life is rounded with a sleep."

The quote is quite consciously taken from a well-known writer, so it is introduced with the colon. It is a formal quote. If the director just said how she

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