A common construction is "Yes, that's right." Is that acceptable, or should a semicolon (or period) replace the comma? If acceptable, how can it be justified grammatically?
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Same thing with "No, you're not!" I like that you opened up constructions (that we take for granted) vs. actual grammatical rules.– Mickael CarusoCommented Aug 22, 2013 at 17:39
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It's acceptable because that's how people do it. That's all grammar is, what people do and agree is OK.– Stuart FCommented Jun 12 at 9:23
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3 Answers
It is correct to say, "Yes, that's right."
This is a particle, which means that you don't inflect it and it's grammatically independent from the rest of the sentence. Interjections like "yes" are an example of this kind of particle.
You can put commas around these and that will be enough because of their independence.
Other examples: no wow ouch goodbye hello
A comma is preferable to a semicolon in cases where the clause is a word or two. Example:
I came, I saw, I conquered.
As to the choice between a comma, a period, and an exclamation point, that would be an attempt to model the stress and emphasis with which the statement was made.
This is an interjection. One uses a comma after a mild interjection and an exclamation point after a strong one. "Yes! We won!" Vs. "Yes, we won, but who cares?"
