When writing ... he said, and ... Should there always be a comma between the tag 'he said' & 'and' example "Hello," she said, and then ran her fingers threw her hair.
Or you could rethink the whole thing "Hello" as she ran her fingers threw her hair. Leaves for a more open response. Though this is my style of writing. I don't actually know if you should keep the , in there or not.
I am shying away from the word 'as' at the moment. The reason? Please see my post under simple sentence.
I think the sentence flows better and feels more correct like this: "Hello," she said. She ran her fingers through her hair. But that is just my opinion. I'm not sure about the comma in your example.
"Hello," she said, and then ran her fingers threw her hair. I created the above sentence as an example, I do not plan to use it. However, are you saying - she said, and - IYO is always a bad choice?
My preferred style guide says to use a comma. I’d recommend that you purchase a guide—you’ll find it invaluable. If you didn’t like the “as” comments, you’re really going to hate what I’m about to say about the word “threw.” I think you mean “through.” I disagree with the comment about sentence flow. If you add a period, it kills the flow and gives the example a more staccato feel. There’s nothing wrong with that. You just need to decide what you’re trying to achieve.
You could use an action instead, Implieing that she/he is the one doing the talking. "No" Quinton said, and stood up. "No" Quinton stood up.
I like commas. But this is what I do. I read it myself over and over. Then I imagine myself saying it. A comma implies a pause, so how would YOU say it? I don't think it's grammatically incorrect to have both commas so what sounds better to you. Two pauses or just one. Best, Whiskey
Just my opinion on it. Probably has something to do with my style. I think with or without the comma it can be correct, but I personally would handle it with a period because I don't like how the "and" there sounds. But that really is only an opinion.
Threw and through - stupid error. Sometimes I'm concentrating on the woods so much, I overlook the trees.
So to sum up all the comments, there is no rule. ... she said, and ... she said and Both are okay. Thank you. My problem is, I get confused between what is an allowable style and what is a hard a fast rule.
sorry, but both of those are totally incorrect and would never pass an editor's blue [or red] pen... zaffy... there's no good reasong to stick 'and' in there, in the first place... a comma followed by just 'then' does what you want... and i'm glad i didn't have to point out your word error! ;-)
Hey, just beacause i can't spell or grammaticsize correctly doesn't mean you haft to correct me. XD But you are correct and i am sorry for the mistake.
I’m going to give you a tip. Please don’t take it the wrong way. Write your posts in Word, run the spellchecker, and copy and paste your post into the text box. Bingo—spelling problems solved!
When offering grammatical advice to another member Neoaptt you will (hopefully) be corrected if you are wrong. As far as the actual topic Whiffet and maia both provide sound advice. If you wish to keep the and you don't necessarily need the comma, but I would use it in this case. Your other option to get rid of the comma is to go with maia's suggestion and just use the word then instead. Caleb
LMFAO!!! (i'm still laughing) Yah i have firefox and so i have a auto spellcheck thing. But i don't like to use it often. I like the color red.
To put the record straight, it is not that I do not know the difference between threw and through. It was just a mistake. Any way, spell check on word does not pick that sort of error up, even if I did use it. I am sorry the spelling error happened because it deviates from my real problem. But to sum up. Break it up into two sentences “Hello,” she said. She ran her fingers through her hair. Use a comma. “Hello,” she said, and then ran her fingers through her hair. Leave out the ‘and’ but leave in the comma. Do what sounds best. With or without a comma is correct but best to use a period instead. A comma followed by ‘then’ no need for the ‘and’. The comma is not necessary with ‘and’ – but it is probably best to. Get rid of the comma and the ‘and’. I think I’ve cracked it. Is it possible anything goes? Seriously though, thanks everyone.
And you want to be a writer? You asked some questions yourself on other threads. Why should people spend time helping you out if you care so little about writing that you won’t even use a spellchecker? I’m saying this to be nice. There are knowledgeable people on here. But who’s going to want to help someone who doesn’t seem to care? Nobody expects perfection on a message board. But you could at least make an effort.
It's possible quite a lot of things go, which is what gives different writers different styles. Looking at some of the possibilities: Break it up into two sentences “Hello,” she said. She ran her fingers through her hair. Standard English; no problem there (provided she's going to continue a sentence that "Hello" is starting, otherwise that shouln't be a comma in those quotes). As others have pointed out, it is more stacatto than your original, which is a stylistic choice you might accept or reject. Other stylistic issues are that too much "he said/she said" can seem dull and amateurish, and I don't like the two instances of "she" so close to each other, so I'd make it “Hello.” She ran her fingers through her hair. Use a comma. “Hello,” she said, and then ran her fingers through her hair. Leave out the ‘and’ but leave in the comma. I'll take those two together. Both look grammatical to me, but "and then" seems clunky. Leave out the "and" or leave out the "then". But again that's a stylistic matter, not a grammatical one. Do what sounds best. If you have enough confidence in your ear. Probably for highly skilled writers only. And maybe poets. Preferably highly skilled poets. With or without a comma is correct but best to use a period instead. "Best" depends on what you're trying to do. To me that seems to be like saying that a G minor chord is better than an F major -- it all depends on the context. But I suspect that prescriptive grammarians would not approve of leaving out the comma, and the result seems to me to be rather stream-of-consciousless (which, again, is an effect you might actually want). Get rid of the comma and the ‘and’. Again -- I don't think that's standard, it might work as stream-of-consciousness.
True true. But there is still the fact that this is a forum to begin with. And people on the internet usualy don't outdue themselves with they write. What i don't get is why i can't spell things that I have spelt a billion times. But i digress. (Love that word)
Exercise. No, I'm not giving you an order or advice. It's just that I can never convince myself that there shouldn't be a "c" after the "x".
