comma or colon with speech tag: He said: "A man who has once..."

E

elinor

Senior Member
Taiwan
Mandarin
He said: "A man who has once been the candidate of his party -- and defeated -- owes it to his party not to be a candidate again."

Should a comma or colon be used after 'He said'?

Thanks.
 
    • Hi!
    elinor said:
    He said: "A man who has once been the candidate of his party -- and defeated -- owes it to his party not to be a candidate again."

    Should a comma or colon be used after 'He said'?

    Thanks.
    Click to expand...

    colon.

    Uinni
     
    Typically, the comma is used before a quote:

    He said, "A man who has once been..."

    elinor said:
    He said: "A man who has once been the candidate of his party -- and defeated -- owes it to his party not to be a candidate again."

    Should a comma or colon be used after 'He said'?

    Thanks.
    Click to expand...
     
    I would just like to expand a bit on this subject. In my view, when "he said" comes before the quotation, you will more likely see a colon, though the comma is also acceptable.

    He said: "Is this the most important issue to discuss right now?"
    She answered: "No, there are far weightier subjects that require our attention."

    If you turn this around, you would most likely see:

    "Is this the most important issue to discuss right now?" he asked (or said).
    "No, there are far weightier subjects that require our attention," she answered.

    Here, if there is no other punctuation at the end of the sentence, you would find a comma (as in the second sentence, where a comma is in place of the period). In the case of a question or exclamation, there is no comma (as in the case of the first sentence).

    I hope this is clear.
     
    elinor said:
    He said: "A man who has once been the candidate of his party -- and defeated -- owes it to his party not to be a candidate again."

    Should a comma or colon be used after 'He said'?

    Thanks.
    Click to expand...

    In AE either one is fine. The colon makes it slightly more formal and sets the quote off more (in fact you could start a new paragraph after the colon).
     
    uinni said:
    Hi!


    colon.

    Uinni
    Click to expand...

    Apparently I was wrong, in the sense that a comma usually introduces a direct quote (English is so strange sometimes ;) ), though a colon can be used as well.

    Uinni
     
    In a script or screenplay format, perhaps the colon is king.

    But in English literature, the style usually prefers a comma.

    I tend to use EITHER a comma and quotation marks. OR a colon, without them.

    He said: A man who has once been the candidate of his party -- and defeated -- owes it to his party not to be a candidate again.
    She said: Really?

    But that's not necessarily a proper "style" that an editor would accept.
     
    Isotta said:
    I disagree: Strunk

    Z.
    Click to expand...

    I admire Strunk but In actual usage I stick to what I said (which isn't actually that much different except for whether to use the quote marks if the quote is in a separate paragraph -- I say you should use them unless the separate paragraph is indented and/or in a different font or size).
     
    I'd say always use a comma in English. Especially in formal writing. Sometimes we see a colon, but that is "creative". Grammar calls for a comma.
     
    Why are we discussing the same question in two threads?

    <Mod comment.
    An excellent question.
    Basically, the answer is that EO mods weren't paying attention when the duplicate thread appeared. :)
    The two threads have now been merged - almost seamlessly.
    Panj>
     
    nycphotography said:
    He: A man who has once been the candidate of his party -- and defeated -- owes it to his party not to be a candidate again.
    She: Really?
    Click to expand...

    I agree, but with a colon I would take out the "said," as I mock-edited.

    Z.
     
    nycphotography said:
    In a script or screenplay format, perhaps the colon is king.
    Click to expand...

    Insofar as modern screenplays are concerned, a colon after a character name is not necessary, simply the name of the character (in caps), with the character dialog beneath this. Of course, this is assuming the screenplay is properly formatted with margins set to different widths for each of the different elements (Slug line, action line, character name, dialog, parenthetical, etc.)

    I don't know if play-writing is different.
     
    Dear All,

    Thank you very much. And I am sorry that I posted this question in two separate forums because I was lost on the way to "English Only" forum on that day.
     
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