comma with speech tag [reported speech]: keep in touch, they decide,

M

my-own-fantasy

Senior Member
English-USA
The only way that they’ll be able to keep in touch , they decide,
is through their own writing-letters.

Should these commas in red bolded be there ? Should there be only one?
Thanks in advance :)
 
    • "Writing-letters" is not idiomatic; "letter-writing" is.

    All things being equal, I'd like to see the original sentence in a legible presented in a legible manner:
    The only way that they’ll be able to keep in touch, they decide, is through their own writing-letters.
    Click to expand...
    The use of the commas seems correct. My suggestion:
    "The only way that they’ll be able to keep in touch, they decide,
    is through writing letters."
     
    timpeac said:
    Well, asides are always put between commas, Tim postulated, and so we don't need to understand the sentence to say that.
    Click to expand...

    Point probably taken, she reluctantly yielded, although the original sentence (now clarified) was something of a mess.

    I can now agree that the commas are correctly placed. Sighs of relief all round.
     
    Just as a technical note, all I did was copy the muddled text into a text editor, within which all the BB formatting is stripped off.

    And I would again state that I prefer to see a full and comprehensible sentence rather than an incomplete or incomprehensible one. It helps us give the best answers we can.
     
    Agreed. I think we should have left it to the original poster to correct the text, though. And I don't know what "BB formatting" is. And this isn't the place to ask.
     
    Granted, I haven't had a very lucid day here today, but do you all like they decide in the present tense?

    Wouldn't it be better to write it this way:
    The only way that they’ll be able to keep in touch, they decided,
    is through writing letters. (Or Scrivvy's good suggestion: by writing to each other.)

    And my-own-fantasy, you should be very happy that you placed the commas correctly!

    AngelEyes
     
    I'm perfectly happy with "they decide" in the present tense, AngelEyes.

    For all we know this could come from a synopsis of a plot for a play.

    Apart from that, it would read - "The only way they would be able to keep in touch, they decided........'

    Regards,
    Scrivvy :)
     
    AngelEyes said:
    Granted, I haven't had a very lucid day here today, but do you all like they decide in the present tense?

    Wouldn't it be better to write it this way:
    The only way that they’ll be able to keep in touch, they decided,
    is through writing letters. (Or Scrivvy's good suggestion: by writing to each other.)

    And my-own-fantasy, you should be very happy that you placed the commas correctly!

    AngelEyes
    Click to expand...

    I fear it is not for us to "like" or dislike the use of the present tense here. The action is happening in the present; the present tense is appropriate.
     
    emma42 said:
    I fear it is not for us to "like" or dislike the use of the present tense here. The action is happening in the present; the present tense is appropriate.
    Click to expand...

    I think that depends on context.

    "John and Sue had a chat this afternoon about their upcoming separation due to his temporary assignment to the German head office. He won't have access to a telephone or a computer while he's there. The only way that they’ll be able to keep in touch, they decided, will be through writing letters."

    I'd change "is" to "will be" to match "they will be able to". My point is that the decision did not necessarily happen in the present.
     
    my-own-fantasy said:
    The only way that they’ll be able to keep in touch , they decide,
    is through their own writing-letters.

    Should these commas in red bolded be there ? Should there be only one?
    Thanks in advance :)
    Click to expand...

    I would punctuate that sentence the same as you did. It might be a bit less awkward to put the "they decide" at the beginning:

    "They decide that the only way that they’ll be able to keep in touch is through their own letters."

    By "writing-letters" I think you mean "letters." A "letter" is indeed written, but is never called a "writing-letter."

    Good luck! :)

    ...via edit:
    My goodness! I was way too slow. I started this response hours ago, before seeing any of the others. Sorry for some duplication.
     
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