punctuation

Ahmed.A.AMember

Hi, Can a colon be used instead of a comma before quotation marks as following sentence?

He said: "I live in New York."

5/31/219:34 AM

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ahmed_btmMember

Hi, Ahmed,

@Ahmed.A.A posted:
Hi, Can a colon be used instead of a comma before quotation marks as following sentence?
He said: "I live in New York."

Yes, it can (as the quotation here is an independent clause). However, the comma is the default. From Longman English Grammar:

"When the subject + reporting verb comes at the beginning of a sentence, the reporting verb is always followed by a comma (sometimes by a colon in Am E) and the quotation begins with a capital letter."

Here is a very good link about this point:

https://www.grammar-monster.com/lessons/quotation_(speech)_marks_colon_or_comma.htm

5/31/2110:59 AM

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Ahmed.A.AMember

Thanks a lot Ahmed

6/1/214:07 AM

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