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Goronsky Posted 11 years ago
Grammar

full-stop placement

Which do you prefer – #1 or #2 below? Should the ending punctuation be ".' or .'" ?

Also, should a comma follow 'say'?

1- Mike said, 'I heard Sally say "I am going to tell Dale I want a divorce".'

2- Mike said, 'I heard Sally say "I am going to tell Dale I want a divorce."'
  

Top answer

" Some would argue that according to "rules" there should be a comma after 'say'. To me, the comma in these cases simply separates and has no real meaning that the single and double quotes don't already indicate. This is a good case where indirect speech might be better: Mike said that he had heard Sally say that she was going to tell Dale she wanted a divorce.

— Philip

  • " Some would argue that according to "rules" there should be a comma after 'say'.
  • To me, the comma in these cases simply separates and has no real meaning that the single and double quotes don't already indicate.
  • This is a good case where indirect speech might be better: Mike said that he had heard Sally say that she was going to tell Dale she wanted a divorce.
  • [ Note: I said 'better' - not perfect!
  • ]
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2 Answers
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Mike said, "I heard Sally say 'I am going to tell Dale I want a divorce'." Some would argue that according to "rules" there should be a comma after 'say'. To me, the comma in these cases simply separates and has no real meaning that the single and double quotes don't already indicate.
This is a good case where indirect speech might be better: Mike said that he had heard Sally say tha
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In American English, the outer quote marks are double, and inner quote marks are single. British English is different.
There is not much logic to mixing quote marks with other punctuation, so follow your favorite style guide.

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/marks/quotation.htm
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