Type of usage
In a statement released this afternoon, the family said: 'He took his son on a trip to London
the family said he took his son on a trip to London.
Do we view the information after the colon as separate or part of the same statement?
Like in my second example I've removed the colon and it reads on. But with the colon it shows the information is different.
the family said the following: he took his son on a trip to London.
I can see 'the following' working as it introduces what is going to be said and the context is clear, but the colon seems strong punctuation. I would have thought no punctuation and just quotation marks?
Top answer
The Telegraph newspaper actually wrote the sentence this way. " The quotation marks show that what they enclose is direct speech. The introductory colon is standard punctuation to introduce direct speech.
- The Telegraph newspaper actually wrote the sentence this way.
- " The quotation marks show that what they enclose is direct speech.
- The introductory colon is standard punctuation to introduce direct speech.
- It's all one statement.
- In both your versions you have added underlining.
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The Telegraph newspaper actually wrote the sentence this way.
In a statement, his devastated family said: "Lee took his son on a trip to London hoping to spend some quality time with him which was cut short by an horrific and pointless attack."
The quotation marks show that what they enclose is direct speech. The introductory colon is standard punctuation to introduce direct
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