Quote:
Originally Posted by saoir
Sorry to be pedantic .. but is everyone agreeing that the second version is 100% correct ?
“It is only a theory sir. Maybe one of my crazier ones I admit”, said Frank.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pdurrant
That one is wrong everywhere if Frank has come to the end of his sentence.
Assuming that Frank has finished his sentence it should be
“It is only a theory sir. Maybe one of my crazier ones I admit.” said Frank.
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Both of these are incorrect in the US. As jandrew implied above, the correct sentence would be:
“It is only a theory sir. Maybe one of my crazier ones I admit," said Frank.
In the US, a comma replaces a period at the end of a quote if it's followed by a "said someone" clause. And the comma most definitely comes before the close quote.
OTOH, if the sentence ended with a question mark or exclamation point, it would not be replaced by a comma:
"It is only a theory sir. Maybe it's one of my crazier ones?" asked Frank.
or:
"It is only a theory sir. One of my crazier ones!" said Frank.
with a small "s" for said and yes, there should be a comma after theory, also.