Okay, so I have written a story and I asked a kind denizen of the internet to proofread it for me. He found my grammar to be correct for the most part, but there was one certain thing that deviated from how I remember it to be. Basically, I've been brought up with that when you write dialogue, there is a comma between a spoken sentence and a sentence containing a speaking verb. To us an example: I originally wrote it like this: "Well, in that case, it's a good thing your brother found you. Good job, son," her father complemented him. He assured me it should be like this: "Well, in that case, it's a good thing your brother found you. Good job, son." her father complemented him. Before I go about changing the grammar of my story, I want to make sure he's correct (he was very adamant he was).
I think your original is correct. There should be a comma after 'Good job, son,' her father complimented him. (check spelling of complimented. There are two ways of spelling) complemented is to add to something, to enhance it; complimented is to give praise. I would also check whether you need a capital letter for son. In UK at least, if the word is used as a name as in 'thanks Mum' it has a capital. If it's used as ' my mum' not a name but a common noun as in my dog, my cat, it's used with a small m. In your case the question is, is the father calling the character Son? And in USA is the rule the same as in UK.
if he doesn't even know that most basic rule, you'd better find another proofreader... fyi, the proper word is 'complimented'... 'complemented' means something else... however, 'complimented him' doesn't make much sense as a dialog tag...
