Having read style guides thoroughly, I am still a little confused about when you don't need a comma after "He says".
I thought you always did?
E.g. He said, "No, I'm not ready."
But sometimes I see things like:
He said "Not now."
Is this a mistake? Is the above ever correct or should there always be a comma?
What about if you wrote something like:
I feel tempted to say "Just drive" like they do in movies.
Would that be correct or do you need a comma?
I believe when "he said" comes AFTER the direct speech, you always need a comma unless there is an exclamation or question mark or something.
E.g. "I'll be there in ten minutes," he said.
Unless you have ? or ! there should always be a comma here, right?
Thank you to anyone who can help!
Best Answer
"He said 'Not now.'" I couldn't find an answer I'd feel comfortable definitively quoting, but here and here are what I could find.
"I feel tempted to say 'Just drive' like they do in movies." No, you don't need to put a comma there. My feeling is that in theory you could put one, depending on the context, but you're better off without. I don't think it should be capitalized either.
"E.g. 'I'll be there in ten minutes,' he said." Indeed, if you don't have any other closing punctuation you should put a comma in.