3

There have already been several questions here about how to use punctuation properly in the direct speech. I've looked through most of them and didn't find an answer to my case. So here I go with my case:

What punctuation will be correct in the following sentence:

He did say, "I am going to visit Jack today.", but nobody believed him.

I am especially concerned here about the proper punctuation between today and but

EDIT:

To make it more clear I am replacing personal pronounces with a name:

Tom did say, "I am going to visit Jack today.", but nobody believed Tom.

Improve this question
3
  • It was quite clear without that edit; naming Tome twice close together sounds a bit superfluous in fact...
    – Cerberus - Reinstate Monica
    Commented Apr 15, 2011 at 22:07
  • @Cerberus - It was quite clear without that edit - But C_P took it as if "but nobody believed him" was part of the direct speech.
    – brilliant
    Commented Apr 15, 2011 at 22:11
  • Yeah, I saw that, and it surprised me very much. Such misinterpretation happens sometimes, when you experience a momentary lapse of attention, I get those too. But your question was really quiet clear.
    – Cerberus - Reinstate Monica
    Commented Apr 15, 2011 at 22:22

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
5

I'd never use a full stop there, nor a capital in the beginning. I'd only use end and beginning-of-sentence markers if forced to do so because I was quoting more than one sentence:

He did say, "Today I am going to visit Jack. Please do not wait up." But nobody believed him.

As you can see, I've cut the sentence up, because I do not think you can have full stops in a quote and then continue the sentence after the quote. This might be a matter of taste; I'm not sure what style book shave to say about this. Two points to consider:

  • You could use a colon after "he did say". Then you might want to make the first part an independent sentence.
  • You could put the full stop after "wait up" after the quotation marks.
Improve this answer
2
  • What do you think about this way: He did say, "Today I am going to visit Jack", but nobody believed him. Would it be correct this way?
    – brilliant
    Commented Apr 15, 2011 at 22:13
  • @brilliant: Looks good to me, except that I think I'd remove the capital T. But you'd have to look that up in a style book; and I suspect that different style books might disagree on such small points as this.
    – Cerberus - Reinstate Monica
    Commented Apr 15, 2011 at 22:14
0

He did say, "I am going to visit Jack today. But nobody believed him."

Or,

He did say, "I am going to visit Jack today; but nobody believed him."

It would be: Tom did say, "I am going to visit Jack today." But nobody believed Tom.

Improve this answer
3
  • I am sorry - My question wasn't specific enough. Please, see my edit in it.
    – brilliant
    Commented Apr 15, 2011 at 21:52
  • My inclination would be: He said, "I am going to visit Jack today," but nobody believed him. The semicolon would be needed instead of a comma before "but" if you wanted special emphasis there.
    – The Raven
    Commented Apr 15, 2011 at 23:50
  • 1
    @The Raven - "The semicolon would be needed instead of a comma before "but"" - Would I still a comma after "today" then? Also, may I know based on what rules you are suggesting it?
    – brilliant
    Commented Apr 16, 2011 at 7:58

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.