I was reading a book where the dialogues of the actors were written in paragraphs. The dialogues, were broken down by the author into pieces of sentences, and between the pieces, the author inserted his thoughts/facts/humour, and then proceeded with the dialogue. For example,
He continued, “Just after the Independence,” and rose from his chair.
Should this have been typed as ”, instead of ,”?
Or take a second example,
He said, “I am a good boy.”
This is how it is generally written. But it seems to me that there should be another fullstop at the end of the sentence to mark the end of He said, “———”. sentence.
How should inverted commas be closed?
Answer
The Chicago Manual of Style (CMoS, 13th ed.) says in section 5.63:
A direct quotation, maxim, or similar expression should ordinarily be set off from the rest of the sentence by commas:
- Vera said calmly, “I have no idea what you mean.”
- “The driver refused to enter the bus,” retorted Eberly.
- “I am afraid,” said Kroft, “that I can offer no explanation.”
- You know the old saying, Politics makes strange bedfellows.
Your sentence,
- He said, “I am a good boy.”
is correctly punctuated.
Attribution
Source : Link , Question Author : Ahmed Afif Khan , Answer Author : rajah9