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Does a comma have to be used before a quotation?
Please let me know which of the two examples below are correct:
Example a: And he said "where are my chips?"
Example b:And he said, "where are my chips?"
In b), I've placed a comma before the opening quote.
What is the correct usage? And if someone can point me to an external reference, that would be even better.
This is called direct speech, and it does require a comma before the quotation. So, the second one is the right one. The opposite, that is,
And he asked where were his chips.
is called reported speech.
Here’s a link to Wikipedia.
In the classical English grammar we were early taught in school, example b is correct. In current usage, I believe either is acceptable. In my writing, I've begun consciously to drop that comma.
