Search results for 'tag:Punctuation tag:Direct speech' matching tags 'Punctuation' and 'Direct speech'

Re: Please, which is the correct way?

Grammar Geek — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 17:24:57 GMT

Brunces wrote:
Doubt #2

Sometimes, I see periods which contain direct speech within quotes. For example:

The father arrived home and said, "Honey, I'm here!" and then dropped his briefcase on the couch.

1) Is the writing this period correct? Shouldn't I use colon before the direct speech? I never do this. He said, [comma]

The father arrived home and said: "Honey, I'm here!", then he dropped his briefcase on the couch.

2) When the direct speech is at the end of the sentence, where should I put the period? You don't need one. The end of the quotation serves as the end punctuation for the entire sentence.

Example: The father arrived home, dropped his briefcase on the couch and said "Honey, I'm here!" (???)

Do I have to put a period after the final quote? ... "Honey, I'm here!". Absolutely no.

Is the exclamation mark considered the final punctuation of the sentence? ... "Honey, I'm here!" Yes.

What if the direct speech final punctuation is a regular period? ... "Honey, I'm here." (???) There is agreement that the period goes inside the quotes in this case.

Do I have to put another period after the final quote? ... "Honey, I'm here.". No.

Is the first period considered the last punctuation of the sentence? ... "Honey, I'm here." Yes.

This is a style issue and will vary depending on which style guide you follow. The additional quirk is that in the US, the period and comma always, always go inside the quotes, even if it would not naturally fall there. The man came home and started to greet hsi wife, calling out "Honey, I'm...," but that was as far as he got before he noticed the dead wildebeast in his favorite recliner.

Please, which is the correct way?

Brunces — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 17:10:51 GMT

Hello, friends.

Please, which is the correct way and why?

Doubt #1

"color of the car" x "car color" x "car's color"
"leg of the cat" x "cat leg" x "cat's leg"
"pizza of yesterday" x "yesterday pizza" x "yesterday's pizza"

I've heard that Genitive Case is used only with nouns which are "living creatures" (humans, animals, etc.)? Is that true? So, "car's color" would be incorrect because "car" is not a living creature. So, when do I have to use OF, Genitive case or "nothing"?

Doubt #2

Sometimes, I see periods which contain direct speech within quotes. For example:

The father arrived home and said "Honey, I'm here!", then he dropped his briefcase on the couch.

1) Is the writing this period correct? Shouldn't I use colon before the direct speech?

The father arrived home and said: "Honey, I'm here!", then he dropped his briefcase on the couch.

2) When the direct speech is at the end of the sentence, where should I put the period? Example:

The father arrived home, dropped his briefcase on the couch and said "Honey, I'm here!" (???)

Do I have to put a period after the final quote? ... "Honey, I'm here!".

Is the exclamation mark considered the final punctuation of the sentence? ... "Honey, I'm here!"

What if the direct speech final punctuation is a regular period? ... "Honey, I'm here." (???)

Do I have to put another period after the final quote? ... "Honey, I'm here.".

Is the first period considered the last punctuation of the sentence? ... "Honey, I'm here."

Thank you very much for your attention, guys.

Hugs,

brunces

Re: need help with commas in direct adress ----urgent-----

Clive — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 04:06:27 GMT

Hi,

My English teacher has reached out of the bowels of hell and given me and a friend a project: we have to make a video project on commas in direct address.

I have searched through the internet and have found little to help give a good explanation. If someone could tell me the rules for this... that would be great.

It seems to me that the use of commas would be the same in both direct and indirect speech.

Try to read, or at least find info on the internet about, a book called 'Eats, Shoots and Leaves' by Lynne Truss. It deals with common errors in punctuation, including commas. It might also give you some ideas on how to portray some graphically.

What's next? A video on the uses of the semi-colon?

Best wishes, Clive

Re: ? and ! in the middle?

Clive — Fri, 10 Feb 2006 02:34:21 GMT

Hi,

I guess you could do this when giving direct speech. eg He shouted 'Help!' as he fell into the river. Otherwise, such punctuation marks must come at the end of a sentence.

Best wishes, Clive

Re: Punctuation doesn't punctuate it?

davkett — Mon, 23 Jan 2006 13:39:00 GMT

(Just so I can stay in the dialogue, though I understand why you would want an English teacher's expertise on this...so would I)--

I finally grasp, (I hope), the essence of your question, which, as always, is an interesting one. I confess to not knowing of a rule. However, I think it is at least semantically clear from the wording here, that the sentence after the period is included in the indirect speech. Perhaps two more sentences, a whole page of sentences, a whole lot of pages of them, could conceivably fall under an initial 'that'.

Is this example unique in your readings?

Re: Punctuation doesn't punctuate it?

Taka — Mon, 23 Jan 2006 07:01:09 GMT

Davkett wrote:
However, the opening clause is a bit off in word order, don't you think?

To me, not as confusing---and shocking--- as the one that I'm asking a question about. I mean, a period is, you know a 'period', a full stop. I thought it should indicate the end of the sentence.

Clive, are you there? You are actually teaching English, right?

If you make 'sentence A. sentenceB' an indirect speech, is it grammatically possible for a that-clause to include both sentence A and B with a period between them, like 'He says that sentence A. sentenceB'?

Punctuation doesn't punctuate it?

Taka — Sun, 22 Jan 2006 19:13:19 GMT

If you allow yourself to be bored, even for an hour--or less--and don't fight it, the feelings of boredom will be replaced with feeling of peace. And after a little practice, you'll learn to relax.

Suppose you make the statement above an indirect speech, with, say, 'he says that'. I think it's going to be:

He says that if you allow yourself to be bored, even for an hour--or less--and don't fight it, the feelings of boredom will be replaced with feeling of peace. And after a little practice, you'll learn to relax.

Now, as you see there, there is a period after 'peace'. And my question is, from a grammatical point of view, even if there is a period there, does it NOT put 'And after a little practice, you'll learn to relax' out of the scope of the that-clause?