By Colons, Quotation marks

You should use a semi colon : before quotes, not a comma. Use a comma at the end if the sentence continues. Otherwise a full stop inside the quotation marks Thus I thought to myself :"It is hardly a good look when they've got a Hollywood star to launch the venue."In the case of the...

Sentence 1 is fine if you place the period/full stop right after hard, before the quotation mark. The comma after say is correct as well. A colon could be used instead of it and is quite common if the quotation is long.Sentence 2 is fine with me as it is. I wouldn't put working hard in quotes...

Maybe the colon use is not American, but is it OK to use it?According to wikipedia (on colon usage):"segmental: introduces a direct speech, in combination with quotation marks and dashes. ..Julian Duguid, author of Green Hell (1931), starts his book boldly: “When a man yields to the urge of...

I find these rules at http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/quotes.asp very helpful. Rule 1 ...

1. Yes. 2. Yes & no. Yes with some modification: "... as the local one". No as this may be elided, implied or understood. Theoretically, I’ll go with your assertion. 3. No. Neglect means the act or fact of giving too little attention or care. Negligence applied to the quality of being...

I believe that the ghost that has appeared before me truly is my father’s spirit, and that everything it has said is true. The ghost did not flee before Horatio’s “cross,” rule over my people justly; just as my father did, and just as he expects me to do. Looks pretty good to me. You have a...

I sometimes use the word "clever" when describing a person.Here it is clear that the full stop has nothing to do with the quoted word and is part of the main sentence. The word "clever" doesn't need its own full stop. If we are quoting somebody speaking, then the quoted speech needs its own...

IMO, this type of colon is similar to: -------- the segmental colon : introduces a direct speech, in combination with quotation marks and dashes. This ... was once a common means of indicating an unmarked quotation on the same line (from the Fowlers' grammar book, The King's...

"Place commas and periods inside, not outside, quotation marks. Place all other punctuation outside quotation marks unless it was contained in the original source. Follow this practice whether or not the comma is part of the original quotation. The general rule is that commas and periods should...

#1 is not necessarily correct; it depends on which side of the Atlantic it is composed. BrE puts the period outside the closing quotation mark. Otherwise, your examples are fine; a colon would be somewhat misused here.Personally, I would go to reported speech except for longer quotations--...