I have a question about punctuation.
The comma is intended to be used to connect to full sentences, but also used for placing emphasis.
But how about the transition from narrative to literal speech, for instance:
After a long pause Mary suddenly said, “I am not sure about this Paul.”
After the word “said” is the use of the comma correct or not?
A colon is not appropriate, a dot too abrupt end,while just a single empty space feels not right.
According to Sylvia's 'English Grammar' by B A Phythian,
'[...] It can be used [...] (d) before a direct quotation.'
Which is the case in the example you give.
And yes, there should be another before Paul.
You could put one after 'pause', because it would create a pause. There's no rule against that, Jonathan.
I've used Oxford commas since long before I knew they had a name. If the way the line should be spoken - or the way I want it to be spoken - requires a pause, or if I want to separate disparate parts of a list even though they are linked by 'and', I'd use one.
For lunch I had fish and celery and potato julienne. For lunch I had fish, and celery and potato julienne. The comma is needed, otherwise I'd be saying I had a julienne of fish, celery and potato, or possibly fish, celery, and potato julienne as three separate items.
(It was the second option - fish, and a julienne made of celery and potato, and very enjoyable it was!)
Lorraine
Here's one for grammar-philes. If you put a comma after 'pause' the sentence reflects its meaning more accurately though going by grammar 'rules' it's not strictly correct. But then the 'Oxford Comma' Adrian alludes to (mainly referring to a comma used before a conjunction) may not right either, depending on who you read/listen to.
Any thoughts on that?