Timeline for Punctuation of a question that ends with a statement
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
8 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 18, 2014 at 9:53 | comment | added | Janus Bahs Jacquet | @DavidM, not quite. He wouldn't “split it up into two sentences”—it already is two sentences. He'd just punctuate it accordingly. | |
| Feb 18, 2014 at 9:52 | comment | added | Janus Bahs Jacquet | @DavidR, +10 for the Victor Borge references! | |
| Feb 17, 2014 at 21:04 | comment | added | David Richerby | @DavidM If it's a quotation, use the punctuation from the original, possibly with sprinkling of "sic". If it's direct speech, you can punctuate as you please because people (other than Victor Borge) don't punctuate their speech. "Where is mom? I need to talk to her," she said. ("I don't know fssst pwt what you need to talk to her about quack spop," said Victor.) | |
| Feb 17, 2014 at 17:35 | comment | added | phenry | If it were a quotation I suppose you could either split it into two sentences, or quote the first part and paraphrase the last, as you have done. When authors and journalists assign punctuation to spoken quotations, they usually try to do it in the way that makes the most sense without distorting what the speaker has said. | |
| Feb 17, 2014 at 17:31 | comment | added | David M | Thanks! And, if it were a quotation you would offset it without splitting? "Where is Mom?" she wondered, needing to talk to her. | |
| Feb 17, 2014 at 17:28 | comment | added | phenry | @DavidM - Yes, this particular passage should be split into two sentences, unless you're going for some kind of nonstandard literary effect. | |
| Feb 17, 2014 at 17:17 | comment | added | David M | To make it clear. You would split this into two sentences? | |
| Feb 17, 2014 at 17:13 | history | answered | Barrie England | CC BY-SA 3.0 |