Speech marks—comma
Hello,
Today, I ran across a problem with speech marks. I have these 4 sentences:
1. John said,“I really hate when it’s hot outside.”
2. Sandy asked them,“Why do you guys always fight?”
3. The exact phrase she used was “There is no way we will get there in time.”
4. Did the dog bark every time he heard Sandy say “I’m bringing dinner”?
In the first two sentences, there's a comma before the speech marks, but in the next two sentences, there's not (by the way, I got these sentences from Grammarly). Is there any reason for this?
Thanks so much for any possible explanation
Top answer
In the first two, someone is actually saying something. That's the main idea of those sentences. Someone spoke some words.
- In the first two, someone is actually saying something.
- That's the main idea of those sentences.
- Someone spoke some words.
- In the last two, the quoted words are only referred to within a larger context that is not directly about anybody actually saying something.
- In 3 the main idea is to specify a particular phrase exactly.
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In the first two, someone is actually saying something. That's the main idea of those sentences. Someone spoke some words.
In the last two, the quoted words are only referred to within a larger context that is not directly about anybody actually saying something.
In 3 the main idea is to specify a particular phrase exactly.
In 4 the main idea is about the habits of a dog.
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