Grammatical question plznthx

[orionsroad]

Okay!! This has been driving me nuts. I keep thinking it's one way, and then changing my mind. So, another question, for those in the grammatical know:

When you split up speech with description, what are the punctuation rules?

For example, the line:

"No," he shook his head tiredly. "It wasn't meant to be like this." Is 'he' meant to be

Comments

[t_i_ra_mi_su]

What you have right up there is correct. :)

However, if you want to go with a comma after tiredly, you'd end up with:

"No," he shook his head tiredly, "it wasn't meant to be like this."

Personally, however, I adhere to the former (the one with the full stop). :)

[orionsroad]

Thanks for clarifying!

And sorry, just to question even further... in the case of:
"No," he shook his head tiredly, "it wasn't meant to be like this."

The full stop at the end of the quoted sentence also ends the ‘he shook his head tiredly’ sentence?

[t_i_ra_mi_su]

Yeah, basically, if you look at the whole sentence, it would be that the person shook his head tiredly while saying, "No, it wasn't meant to be like this." So, in essence, you've got one whole sentence, of which the full stop at the end nicely ties up altogether. :) Hope that made sense.

Although, if you're unsure, your best bet would probably to go with the full stop after 'tiredly'. I guess the important thing is just to remember parallelism - remember that if you choose to go with a full stop, you have to capitalize the first letter of the next quote, while if you choose to go with the comma, your next quote should start in the lowercase. :) Pick one style, so to speak, and stick to it. Consistency is the key. :D /not making sense

Hope this helps. :D

[orionsroad]

Okay, that makes sense.

Thanks for taking the time to explain. ^_^ I'll probably stick with the fullstop-capital, but it's good to know the other one anyway just in case and also for betaing.

Again, thank you! ^_^

[t_i_ra_mi_su]

No worries! Just glad to be of help in some way. xD /basic grammar nut

It's just nice to know that one of the writers whose writing style I enjoy is actually concerned about proper grammar. ♥ A lot of good writers put me off simply because they think they've got no room to improve. :(

[orionsroad]

I feel really stupid in that I'm meant to be a native speaker but I honestly know very little about English grammar at all. We never really got taught anything past 'noun/verb, subject/object' sort of stuff at school, which I think is pretty shocking in general. I think I've learnt more about English grammar through learning Japanese then I ever did in school. -_-

And haha, I know I have a hell of a lot to learn about sentence control and grammar and all sorts of stuff (and spelling. because lord knows I have never been able to spell well and spell-check kicks my butt on a regular basis). The English language is a weird and wonderful (mainly weird) thing, so there's always more to learn. :D So thanks again for your help. ^_^

[t_i_ra_mi_su]

No worries! :) Yeah, the English language is weird...just when you think you know something, it will bite you in the behind just to tell you that you don't. XD

[chaosmyth]

Butting in very randomly but thank you so much for this *O*♥♥♥♥♥ It's something that's been bothering me since forever, since I use a LOT of that kind of dialogue in fics <.

[orionsroad]

Snaffu! Have a look at this tut that mimei linked me to - it explains everything (and omg I can't believe I didn't know all this stuff! >_<;;;)

http://rynne.livejournal.com/196658.html

[chaosmyth]

Thank you!! ♥

[t_i_ra_mi_su]

No worries! xD My friends always harangue me into writing them fic, and I get them to shut up by saying they should write it, and I'll just beta. LOL ♥!!!