Standard English ConventionsHardComma before quotation integrated with said
Standard English Conventions practice question
Leading visitors past the frozen vaults, the seed bank's director ____ "Every seed here has a passport — we can trace each packet to the field it came from."
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
- A. noted,Correct
- B. noted
- C. noted;
- D. noted:
Answer: A. noted,
A speech verb introducing a quotation takes a comma: 'the director noted, "Every seed here has a passport."'
Why the other answers are wrong
- B. noted
- The quotation after a speech verb needs introducing punctuation.
- C. noted;
- A semicolon cannot introduce a quotation after 'noted.'
- D. noted:
- After a bare speech verb, the conventional mark is a comma; a colon follows a complete sentence instead.
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