comma or period before quotes

[curiousmind]

I am getting conflicting answers from two friends, so I am asking you guys for a fair and expert answer

A. Linda looked around the messy room and felt bad. " I should have clean up the house"
B. Linda said the prayer silently. "Mother, please I should have done it everyday."


One friend explained the sentence before quote is an independent idea, so you can use period before quotes. Another friend said, you should use comma because then people know who is saying that.

I just checked some children books, and I see a lot of people just use period before the quotes. And, what I have above is part of the story I am translating, so I just want to make sure if I should use comma or period.

thanks a million

 

[kfredson]

I am getting conflicting answers from two friends, so I am asking you guys for a fair and expert answer

A. Linda looked around the messy room and felt bad. " I should have cleaned up the house," she said [to herself.]
B. Linda said the prayer silently. "Mother, please, I should have done it [STRIKE]everyday[/STRIKE] every day."

Yes, your first friend is correct. You can get away with a period in these sentences. However, if you do want to make it crystal clear in the first sentence just who is speaking (it is not crucial here, since it is already clear), you would add "she said." In this case, you would use a comma.

One friend explained the sentence before quote is an independent idea, so you can use period before quotes. Another friend said, you should use comma because then people know who is saying that.

I just checked some children books, and I see a lot of people just use period before the quotes. And, what I have above is part of the story I am translating, so I just want to make sure if I should use comma or period.

thanks a million

I hope this is helpful. There has been some discussion in this forum about the use of commas and sentences in the introducing of quotations. But in these sentences it seems to me that periods are fine.

 

[mmasny]

I find a bit strange that I you both don't mention a colon which I thought was the standard way to introduce independent speech. (I don't know what I mean by 'standard', I just feel it is standard )

 

[Barb_D]

In the U.S., you use a comma to introduce direct speech, not a colon.

He said, "I hope you have a great time."
She replied, "Thank you. I hope so too."

 

[kfredson]

In the U.S., you use a comma to introduce direct speech, not a colon.

He said, "I hope you have a great time."
She replied, "Thank you. I hope so too."

That is true, but isn't the colon becoming increasingly common? I see it so often that I wonder if it now hasn't become an acceptable option.

 

[curiousmind]

I got it!

really appreciate it.