Question

Choose the option which correctly punctuates the sentence:
Rebecca told me, “Jim said I am coming”.
A) NO CHANGE
B) Rebecca told me, “Jim said, ‘I am coming’”.
C) Rebecca told me, “Jim said, I am coming”.
D) Rebecca told me, Jim said, “I am coming”.

Answer 1

Hint: Punctuation is the use of spacing, conventional signs, and certain typographical devices as aids to the understanding and correct reading of written text.

Complete answer:
Let us individually analyse the answer to figure out the correct one
Option A) NO CHANGE – this option is wrong because there are some changes in the sentence with correct punctuation.
Option B) Rebecca told me, “Jim said, ‘I am coming’” – is the correct answer because here a rule is applied and the rule is – use single quotation marks inside double quotation marks when you have a quotation within a quotation. Thus, this is the correct answer.
Option C) Rebecca told me, “Jim said, I am coming” – is an incorrect answer because the sentence ‘Rebecca told me, “Jim said, I am coming”’ does not follow the rule of punctuation and this, is an incorrect answer.
Option D) Rebecca told me, Jim said, “I am coming” – is an incorrect answer because this sentence does not have a correct usage of punctuation. Thus, this is an incorrect answer.

Hence, the correct answer is option ‘B’.

Note:There are few rules: Double quotation marks are used for the first quotation, Single quotation marks are used for a quotation within a quotation, Double marks are used for a further quotation inside that, etc.