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John H Posted 19 years ago
Grammar

When is a colon proper for dialog with multiple paragraphs?

0 If you have the following two paragraphs...02br
02br
00-02br
00I was amazed to see him there. He frowned at me, then spoke:02br
00"I told you not to come here."02br
00-02br
02br
00Since it is two separate paragraphs, would it be a . instead of a colon after spoke? 0-
  

Top answer

0Unless you have a specific stylistic reason, you shouldn't be using colons to indicate dialogue. This example is better: 01blockquote 00I was amazed to seem him there. "12br 12br 12br 10A colon is typically only used when beginning a large block of preformated text, such as lyrics or poetry.

— M. Caliban

  • 0Unless you have a specific stylistic reason, you shouldn't be using colons to indicate dialogue.
  • This example is better: 01blockquote 00I was amazed to seem him there.
  • "12br 12br 12br 10A colon is typically only used when beginning a large block of preformated text, such as lyrics or poetry.
  • 22blockquote 22blockquote 1-
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12 Answers
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0Unless you have a specific stylistic reason, you shouldn't be using colons to indicate dialogue. This example is better: 01blockquote
00I was amazed to seem him there. 12br
12br
10He frowned at me then said, "I told you not to come here."12br
12br
12br
10A colon is typically only used when beginning a large block of preformated
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0Thank you for your reply. So the following examples are incorrect?02br
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00 00 02br
00 00 02br
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00However, there was nothing else I could do. 00I prayed silently: 02br
02br
00 “00Lord, please don’t let all it happen like this....02br
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00and02br
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00 0
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0With a direct quote (using the " " marks), use the comma, at least in U.S. style.02br
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00She said, "Aren't you coming with me?"02br
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00Your second two examples are not direct quotes, so the colon is okay.0-
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0 Thank you for your reply.02br
00However, I am curious, you are saying it is correct to put a comma at the end of a paragraph?0-
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0No, you don't put a comma on the end of a paragraph. You attach the direct quote directly after the comma, without starting a new paragraph for that quote. The 01i00next02i00 person to talk gets a new paragraph.02br
02br
01i00Jenny was confused, and asked, "What do you mean?"02i02br
02br
01i00"I mean, there's n
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0 I see what you mean, and I don't mean to be picky, but I was thinking more of situations where you have a preceeding paragraph, which at the end, ends with the sentence. 02br
01i02br
00I sat there in anticipation of how she might respond. Perhaps I had pushed her too far, destroying my chances of the relationship I so desperately sought. She looked at me, then spoke
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0 In that situation, you would start a new paragraph, or rewrite slightly. ... She looked at me, then said meekly, "I've always thought that..." 0-
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0 Yes, so my question was, if you choose the former, to start a new paragraph which begins with the dialog, would the last sentence in the paragraph before the dialog end with a colon, or are you saying you need to start the next paragraph with that last sentence? I'd prefer to use it as the last sentence in the preceeding paragraph, so is that grammatically acceptable, and if so, a colon or a
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0End the prior paragraph with a period/full stop. Start the quote on the new line. (This does not apply if the last line of the paragraph is "And then he said,"... or something like that. You have to conclude the prior thought, and then start the quote.) 02br
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00In your last example, you have a "she said" attached to the quote itself. This definitely qualifies for its own
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0 Yes, so in my last example, it was correct to end "spoke" with a period instead of a colon, as there's the dialog paragraph next?02br
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00thanks0-
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