Punctuation?

vsuresh

Hi

I have a question with this sentence.

Marie told the teacher, "I saw Marc at the playground, and he said to me, 'Bill started the fight,' and I believed him."

Is the comma in red correctly used?

If I had to use a comma there, I'd rewrite it like this:

Marie told the teacher, "I saw Marc at the playground, and 'Bill started the fight', he said, and I believed him."

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I see the PP "to me" as a redundant one in Marie's expression.

(I'm a non-native.)

Thank you, tkacka.

tkacka15I see the PP "to me" as a redundant one in Marie's expression.

I agree with you.

tkacka15If I had to use a comma there, I'd rewrite it like this:

Could you tell me why you think you should rephrase in order to use that comma?

Suresh

The sentence is punctuated correctly. You have no choice but to do it that way, because that's what Marie said.

vsureshCould you tell me why you think you should rephrase in order to use that comma?

It's nothing sophisticated on my part. I simply follow British journalists who, first, cite somebody's expression, next put the comma followed by "he said".

vsureshat the playground

This is odd. I've only heard in used instead.

anonymous

vsureshat the playground

This is odd. I've only heard in used instead.

anonymous

vsureshat the playground

This is odd. I've only heard in used instead.

Both are used but, indeed, "in the playground" more often.

See https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=at+the+playground%2Cin+the+playground+&year_start=1...

vsuresh

Hi

I have a question with this sentence.

Marie told the teacher, "I saw Mark at the playground, and he said to me, 'Bill started the fight,' and I believed him."

Is the comma in red correctly used?

May be yes

Actually even I have this question doubt