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Post by amanda on Feb 4, 2014 21:46:23 GMT
Very, very grateful for any help. How would you punctuate this sentence? He wasn’t really surprised; what did the Yanks expect, lending money to trailer trash? he thought, grateful for the fact that mortgage lending was regulated in the UK. Thank you. A. PS this is a sentence from a story - no offence intended to anyone
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Post by Verbivore on Feb 4, 2014 22:13:39 GMT
I'd break the sentence thus:
He wasn’t really surprised. What did the Yanks expect, lending money to trailer trash? he thought, grateful for the fact that mortgage lending was regulated in the UK.
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Post by amanda on Feb 4, 2014 22:24:58 GMT
Thank you. Much appreciated.
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Post by Sue M-V on Feb 6, 2014 21:18:29 GMT
If this is from a story, I'd be tempted to use inverted commas:
He wasn’t really surprised. "What did the Yanks expect, lending money to trailer trash?" he thought, grateful for the fact that mortgage lending was regulated in the UK.
or perhaps italics:
He wasn’t really surprised. What did the Yanks expect, lending money to trailer trash? he thought, grateful for the fact that mortgage lending was regulated in the UK.
But maybe Vv would find that over fussy. You should always take Verbivore's opinions on such matters before my own.
Sue
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Post by Verbivore on Feb 6, 2014 22:14:43 GMT
If this is from a story, I'd be tempted to use inverted commas: He wasn’t really surprised. "What did the Yanks expect, lending money to trailer trash?" he thought, grateful for the fact that mortgage lending was regulated in the UK. or perhaps italics: He wasn’t really surprised. What did the Yanks expect, lending money to trailer trash? he thought, grateful for the fact that mortgage lending was regulated in the UK. But maybe Vv would find that over fussy. You should always take Verbivore's opinions on such matters before my own. Sue But Sue, they're only opinions, and I shouldn't value mine over yours. :-) I did consider quotation marks or italics (and if either were to be employed, I'd go for the italics), but yes, I think too fussy. There are many, many examples of published books where thoughts are not "quoted" or highlighted; the context usually makes the meaning / intention clear.
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Post by Sue M-V on Feb 13, 2014 17:16:26 GMT
Ah, but you get paid for your opinions, Vv (whereas I'm often criticised for mine)! Sue
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