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Usually, after a reporting verb, there is bound to be a comma, but what if the constructions are as follow:

As if waiting for me to say that one sentence, Cornelia followed up with a request, “Welp, there’s one thing you can help me with.”

In this example, there is no reporting verb, but with "followed up with a request" it sounds more correct to my ears to add a comma.

“Ah, um, how do I say this?” Scratching the back of my head, I blurted out the content of my mind: “You sure are pretty today.”

Looking at this example, "blurted out" is a reporting verb, and therefore, is accompanied with a comma, but because there's an additional "the content of my mind," I think that colon is better.

Still, are these two constructions even grammatically correct?

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  • Personally, I would use a full stop (period) and treat the speech as a new sentence.
    – Kate Bunting
    Feb 13, 2022 at 15:01
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    Not a comma. This is one of the few places I'd retain the colon. // It's confusing to call a verb used in a speech tag (John said / whispered /groaned ... ; asked Jill ...) a reporting verb as this is not reported (indirect) speech. 'Quote/quotative verb' is more felicitous for the usage. //// Note also that speech tags before a quote may be followed by a comma or colon or (increasingly commonly) zero punctuation. All are considered acceptable per se, though individual sentences may well be better using one or other of the options.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Feb 13, 2022 at 15:14
  • I don't see a problem with the grammar. But is grammar really what you're asking about? Your choice of punctuation in these examples also seems fine.
    – Lawrence
    Feb 13, 2022 at 17:01
  • Thank you everyone for the input. @EdwinAshworth I see. colon does work best here, huh.
    – ZZZ
    Feb 14, 2022 at 2:43

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