[Grammar] RE: Commas Within Speech Marks Question

[monsterjazzlicks]

RE: Commas Within Speech Marks Question

HI folks,

Is there a hard and fast rule as to whether or not a writer should place a comma within speech-marks (as in the following example)?:

"I feel a little hungry" said John.

"I feel a little hungry," said John.
​

As you can seen, one example has a comma (before 'he/she said') and the other does not.

Personally, I am using the second example for the simple reason that the authors of the books I read tend to follow this very protocol.

Many thanks in advance for any kind assistance offered here . . .

Best,

Paul

 

[monsterjazzlicks]

Re: Commas Within Speech Marks Question

Piscean,

There is no authoritative rule in BrE.

Thanks for your response.

So I can use either version? But I would guess that one must adhere to maintaining 'consistency' throughout one's text (ie. avoid switching between using a comma and not!).

Ta,

Paul

(I see you have edited out my full name. I did not noticed this before but now I understand the reasons why).

 

[emsr2d2]

Re: Commas Within Speech Marks Question

Yes, pick a style and stick with it.

There's no need to sign off your posts with any name at all. You'll note that most of us don't. We tend to refer to each other by our usernames.

 

[monsterjazzlicks]

Re: Commas Within Speech Marks Question

Piscean,

There is no authoritative rule in BrE.

I have never heard of the term: 'BrE' before.

A quick Google search produces: https://www.brebookshop.com/

Is this what you are referring to please?

Ta,

Paul

 

[emsr2d2]

Re: Commas Within Speech Marks Question

No. We use a few similar contractions on the forum.

BrE = British English
AmE = American English
AusE = Australian English

There are of course other variants of English but we don't seem to make contractions or abbreviations of them. However, if someone posted, for example, "CanE", I would take it to be Canadian English.

 

[monsterjazzlicks]

Re: Commas Within Speech Marks Question

Yes, pick a style and stick with it.

There's no need to sign off your posts with any name at all. You'll note that most of us don't. We tend to refer to each other by our usernames.

Great, that's really helpful (as I will definitely be using this in my 'Creative Writing' exam paper this week!); so I can be confident in this area now, thanks.

OK, thanks for letting me know about signing off. I am a newbie and so I am still finding my feet, so to speak. I just wanted to appear grateful and polite in my replies.

 

[emsr2d2]

Re: Commas Within Speech Marks Question

We tend do whatever we can to save time on non-essentials here. Don't bother with greetings or sign-offs. We're happy enough if a post starts "Please can someone explain why ..." or something similar.
There's no need to write a new post to say "Thank you" to anyone. You will note that there are two icons in the bottom left-hand corner of every response - Thank and Like. Click on one or both to indicate your agreement/appreciation to the poster. That's sufficient.

 

[monsterjazzlicks]

Re: Commas Within Speech Marks Question

No. We use a few similar contractions on the forum.

BrE = British English
AmE = American English
AusE = Australian English

There are of course other variants of English but we don't seem to make contractions or abbreviations of them. However, if someone posted, for example, "CanE", I would take it to be Canadian English.

Thanks for explaining this. And also for your swift replies.

I have found this forum to be very resourceful indeed.

 

[emsr2d2]

Re: Commas Within Speech Marks Question

Post 9 is an example of a non-essential post. You could have just clicked Thank and/or Like on each response. Those of us who use the Subscribed Threads facility get a little weary of seeing that a thread we are participating in has a new response, only to open it and find it's just some version of 'Thanks'. :-D

 

[monsterjazzlicks]

Re: Commas Within Speech Marks Question

We tend do whatever we can to save time on non-essentials here. Don't bother with greetings or sign-offs. We're happy enough if a post starts "Please can someone explain why ..." or something similar.
There's no need to write a new post to say "Thank you" to anyone. You will note that there are two icons in the bottom left-hand corner of every response - Thank and Like. Click on one or both to indicate your agreement/appreciation to the poster. That's sufficient.

I did see some 'green' (I think they were?) coloured 'ticks' underneath certain replies in my previous threads. Again, I thought these were more to do with (options for) 'full' members or 'Moderators' etc. Anyway, I will use these in future thanks.

I will close this thread now as my questions have now been fully answered, thank you.

 

[monsterjazzlicks]

Re: Commas Within Speech Marks Question

Please don't close a thread just because you are satisfied. Others may wish to follow up on a point that is of interest to them.

OK, no problem. I may not continue to contribute to the threads of which I have received satisfactory replies because I will have likely moved on to asking a new question.

If you wish to re-open any of my threads which I have 'closed' then please feel free to do so.