Discussion. Court Reporting: Bad Grammar/ Good Punctuation 3/8/ Where does it say you need to prove they are the words they really said?

Transcription

1 Court Reporting: Bad Grammar/ Good Punctuation Discussion Where does it say you need to prove they are the words they really said?

2 Periods and commas go INSIDE quotes with NO exceptions in the entire language. I read the Hemingway story A Day s Wait. It ends with the numbers 143. I am fairly sure it is HT. I think he used the word habit. 5 6 He overused incredible, and we no longer took him seriously. When you put your initials PF, were you confirming your agreement to the contract being proposed? Colons and semicolons go OUTSIDE quotes with NO exceptions in the entire language

3 You continued to say that you were mildly committed ; right? This is marked Receipts ; this is marked Disbursements. Interrogs and exclamation marks go in or out depending upon... I read it in the article New Scenes : This technology will change where the question is being asked. Is there a question inside the quotes? Is there a question outside the quotes? Is there a question in both places?

4 The first word of a quote is capped if it is a complete sentence or if it stands for a complete thought. He replied, It was completed on my own time and with my own money. Did he say, I am not interested? He replied, On my own time and with my own money. Did he say, Not interested? A The boss is never wrong. What do you mean by The boss is never wrong? What do you mean by never wrong? A He was doing close to 60. What do you mean by He was doing close to 60? What do you mean by close to 60?

5 The first word and the last word of all titles are capped. Cap all other words except short prepositions short conjunctions articles a, an, and the 18 A Report on the Housing Fight Between Siblings What Is He Aiming For? A Brief Moment with the s in Formal English Is She a Republican or Not?

6 IN ENGLISH Italics/underlining for the names of longer works. uotes for the names of shorter works. My all-time favorite book is Gone with the Wind. The chapter I refer to is Congenital Bone Deformities His day began with a cup of coffee and The Wall Street Journal. To impress her, he tried to score tickets to The Producers. He always quoted the article entitled Why Severance Pay Should Be Withheld. The lawsuit involved a dispute over who wrote the lyrics to My One True Love

7 Discussion Discussion In the Carbon Paper Days Typesetters had the em dash; we had two hyphens. Was he with standing with you at the time? Was he with -- standing with you at the time? Discussion Discussion In the Carbon Paper Days Typesetters had variable fonts; we had monofonts. Where were you standing at the time of the Where were you standing at the time of the

8 Discussion How Many Spaces? Where were you standing at the time? Were you close to the car? Where were you standing at the time? Were you close to the car? Discussion In the Carbon Paper Days Typesetters had italics; we had underlining Italics? Underlining? ALL CAPS uotes? but did we use it?

9 during the filming of The Help. during the filming of The Help. during the filming of The Help. during the filming of THE HELP. 33 I don t know the word in English, but in Spanish it s regatear. Cállate was the word he used over and over

10 A Cállate was the word he used over and over. A Cállate was the word he used over and over. A A C est la guerre. (Witness spoke in French.) What If We Don t Share the Alphabet? A A SAI SOU (phonetic). (Witness spoke in Chinese.)

11 TIME OUT: How Do You Pronounce That? A Is that Reiss or Reiss? Reiss. Okay. Reiss Is that Reiss or Reiss Is that RICE or REESE (pronouncing)? (phonetic)? Is that Reiss or Reiss (as pronounced)? Is that RICE or REESE?

12 Sic translates as as in the original. It is used to point out a mistake and should be surrounded with brackets. 46 The CEO at the time, O Brian [sic], had the chance to. When President Clinton [sic] decided to intervene in? Let s Tread Lightly: Can [verbatim] Be An Alternate for [sic]?

13 Mrs. Wakefield, did you? Mrs. Wakeman, did you? Mrs. Wakefield [verbatim], did you? A How it is spelled? Z-o-c-e-r. MR. RAY: I believe it is -o-r. A A How is it spelled? Z-o-c-e-r [verbatim]. When was it prescribed? Right after the blood test

14 enviroment use to athelete percipitation accidently disasterous 54 pacifically ax nucular supposively bof

15 We need to statementize them. She was acting obliviated. There was a need to conversate to get it straightened out. We need to statementize them. She was acting obliviated. There was a need to conversate to get it straightened out He rolled the doctor across the page. When you were acting, did you hire anyone in the position of administrative assistant?

16 He rolled the doctor across the page. When you were acting, did you hire anyone in the position of administrative assistant? 61 What do you mean by approximately? When you use approximately, what do you mean? You used the word approximately. IN ENGLISH, words used as words are italicized/underlined. IN REPORTING, words used as words are quoted

17 When you say wasted, what exactly do you mean? You keep using gushing. Please define achalasia for us, Doctor. What do you mean by up against? The document has several references to estimates. I see the words not applicable used here frequently Discussion Do you have the document or not? That is the first consideration

18 I am going to read from the report that was submitted: Open uotes Close Them at the End The company intends to make restitution in. Several thousand dollars is. We will initiate this action on February What to uote? and What About That Comma? It says Debits. It states Patient entered in a comatose state. It reads There were two options

19 There is a column marked Sales. It says in the late afternoon of August 5, the patient s condition worsened. It reads the outer edge of the patellar tendon. It states that His expectations were such that. What I am referring to is The bank will reimburse you to the extent Changed a Word? Your reads I need to look into this before it goes further. When you wrote that you need to look into this, what did you mean?

20 I am going to read from the What If It Is Just report that was submitted: NOT Close? (Reading) The company expects to make restitution for Discussion What do you do if the punctuation in the material being quoted is awful? Why Is There No Comma? Duplicate it? Correct it?

21 Discussion There is no conversation taking place here. We are not relating a conversation that took place. There is no discourse. 81 Definition Discourse in English is a conversation. For punctuation purposes, discourse is relating a conversation that has taken place. The form is often something similar to he said/she said. Lead-In Words

22 Discussion We often get in and out of quotes with words that indicate something has been said: he said, she stated, et cetera. Always separate lead-in words from the quoted material with punctuation in discourse. We will call these lead-in words. They lead us into discourse He said, I am reporting the disturbance at this time. I replied, There is no way I can be there in time. Modern Lead-In Words Get to the nearest shelter, she exclaimed

23 Discussion I went, You have to go with me. She goes, I have to do it. I m all, He had better be here. He s, like, Don t bother me. This is where the comma goes. When there is no discourse, there is no comma before the quote unless the grammar normally calls for it Interrogs and exclamation marks go in or out depending

24 ...where the question is being asked. Is there a question inside the quotes? Is there a question outside the quotes? Is there a question in both places? You look first at the quoted material. If the question is being asked within the quoted material, the interrog goes inside. And that is the end of it He said, Did you receive the invoice from them in a timely manner? I asked, How far are you willing to go in your support of her? Are you going to finish today? he inquired. If both the quote and the lead-in words are asking a question, the interrog still goes inside because the quote is still asking a question

25 Did he say to you, How could you do this to me? Did you reply, How much is this going to cost me this time? Where are you going? did he ask? If the quoted material is not asking a question but the lead-in words are asking a question, then the interrog goes outside the quotes Did he say, I am not involved in this in any way? Did you reply, Get me the numbers as soon as possible? If you have punctuation before the quote, you must have punctuation to get out of the quote

26 He said, I am reporting the disturbance at this time, and went immediately to the boss. I replied, Is there any way to get it now? explaining my situation to them. 101 Discussion Single quotes are NEVER correct unless they are inside of double quotes. The rules about periods and commas, colons and semicolons are the same for single quotes as they are for double quotes

27 Discussion If you are looking for where the interrog goes, you look inside the single quotes first, then inside the double quotes, then at the lead-in words. He said, I read the report entitled Are Risks Rising? He said, Did you read the report entitled Are Risks Rising? Did he say, Did you read the report entitled Are Risks Rising? He said, Did you read the report entitled Earthquake Losses? Did he say, Did you read the report entitled Earthquake Losses? He said, I read the report entitled Earthquake Losses. Did he say, I read the report entitled Earthquake Losses?

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