i see a lot of dialogue has a comma in it, e.g “I am going to the zoo,” said Martha. im curious, whats the comma for?
The comma is there because in a sentence like the one you provide as example, what is inside and outside of the quotation marks is all still part of the same sentence. The quotation marks don't define the border of the sentence, at least not in the case of a dialogue tag. That tag is a dependant clause; thus, it is separated from the main clause by a comma. It would be different if what came after the quoted dialogue were a beat, which is a complete sentence, but a tag is a fragment if left all by itself. This rule is overridden if what's inside the quote is a question or said emphatically enough to require an exclamation point, but the comma is the default, because, again, the tag is fragmentary on its own.
It separates the dialogue from the rest of the connecting sentence. I am going to assume that you might be from another country, since this is a common, almost mandatory feature of English grammar (and some other languages). How have you see it done in your experience? Another example: Martha said, "I am going to the zoo." (In that case, the comma moves to before the quotation marks.)
It’s a punctuation rule. When you have dialogue followed by a tag (a tag being “said” or “asked” or any of the other words used to indicate that someone spoke) it will end with a comma unless it ends with a question mark, exclamation point, etc. In your example, the comma replaces the period that would end the sentence, but it would be there even if you broke the sentence: “I,” said Martha, “am going to the zoo.”
Don't you have to capitalize the "Am" at the dialogue continuation? Oh God, have I been doing that wrong my whole life?
OK, Googling persuades me that I’m right. A random link, the “dialogue interrupted by a dialogue tag” section: http://theeditorsblog.net/2010/12/08/punctuation-in-dialogue/
"I am going to the zoo." is a sentence. But the text around it is also a sentence. Placing a period at the end of "zoo" is confusing, so we use a comma. Now for the weird stuff. When the speaker uses a period, we use a comma, right? But when the speaker uses a comma, we also use a comma: "I bought milk," said Martha, "but the bread was too expensive." [the speaker's comma is after "milk"] The comma rule introduces ambiguity of sentence vs. phrase. To make up for this, we still use the comma in the dialogue, but place the period later: "I bought milk," said Martha. "Is that okay with you?" [The period after "Martha" is really the speaker's period after "milk"—weird, huh?] In conclusion: we avoid the confusion of nested sentences by using a comma. But the comma then adds its own ambiguity. So we correct by adding a period later when needed. To get around all this weirdness, use exclamation points and question marks all the time. "I bought milk!" said Martha. "Is that okay with you?" she growled.
Swedish writing rules has the comma outside. "Hello." "Hello", said John. But no comma on these. "Where did you find that hat?" "Where did you find that hat?" said Mary. "Oops!" "Oops!" said Fred.
Which is, let's face it, eminently more sensible. There are other English rules about commas that make no sense. For instance, according to Elements, one should not write: "Return at the time when, on a full moon, the North Star is at its zenith," but "Return at the time, when on a full moon, the North Star is at its zenith." This is only the case for parenthetical statements delineated by commas. When using actual parentheses or em dashes, the first format is correct. *shrugs*
Yes, I haven't seen anyone in my country write like that. Someting like this. “I got a plan for the weekend” Martha said and continued. “I am going to the zoo.”
Do the same comma rules apply when it is an action beat? Does an action beat and tag together work in the same way?
No, the rules are different—you don’t use a comma. Examples: “I am going to the zoo,” said Mary. “I am going to the zoo,” Mary said. “I am going to the zoo.” Mary picked up her car keys. Mary said, “I am going to the zoo.” Mary picked up her car keys. “I am going to the zoo.” Mary picked up her car keys. “I am going to the zoo.” She stood for a moment, waiting for a reaction, then turned on her heel and left. “I,” said Mary, “am going to the zoo.” There’s no obvious equivalent for this. One kinda-similar example: “I—“ Mary paused and picked up her keys. “—am going to the zoo.” But this suggests an actual interruption.
What about inner monologue, thoughts. Was he going to kiss her? she thought. vs Was he going to kiss her?, she thought. I would use the last.
I have never heard of commas being used like this....... I am now worried and slightly confused for it makes no logical sense to me......
Well. In all the examples provided above. I would have used a full stop "I bought some of bread." Said John
I'm traditionally published and have worked with three different editors - all have confirmed that the above is correct and appropriate for at least USA English grammar. All of the books I read follow this style as well. If I read a book that included: I would assume I was reading the work of someone for whom English was not their first language.
That would definitely be "I bought some of the bread," said John. At least, in the US, and I believe in the UK, Canada, most English-speaking countries.
Same as if it were dialogue: "Was he going to kiss her?" she said. not "Was he going to kiss her?," she said.
