# Grammer: capitalizing a full-sentence quote within a sentence **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 19, 2010, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammer-capitalizing-a-full-sentence-quote-within-a-sentence/525613 "2010-01-19T21:11:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Logical\_Phallacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Logical\_Phallacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Logical_Phallacy)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammer-capitalizing-a-full-sentence-quote-within-a-sentence/525613/1 "2010-01-19T21:11:02Z")
For a news release, how should the following full-sentence quote be capitalized: Mayor Dinkleberry openly admitted that, “Large voluptuous bottoms are very attractive on a baby penguin.” or Mayor Dinkleberry openly admitted that, “[l]arge voluptuous bottoms are very attractive on a baby penguin.” or some other way? ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammer-capitalizing-a-full-sentence-quote-within-a-sentence/525613/2 "2010-01-19T21:19:20Z")
I’d go with the first. since the quotation is a full sentence. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammer-capitalizing-a-full-sentence-quote-within-a-sentence/525613/3 "2010-01-19T21:29:16Z")
I would definitely eliminate the comma after that. And no caps. edit: Actually, I would capitalize it. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammer-capitalizing-a-full-sentence-quote-within-a-sentence/525613/4 "2010-01-19T21:43:05Z")
Some other way: > [@](#): > > “Large voluptuous bottoms,” Mayor Dinkleberry openly admitted, “are very attractive on a baby penguin.” And while the question isn’t, strictly speaking, grammar, the word is, strictly speaking, _grammar_. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammer-capitalizing-a-full-sentence-quote-within-a-sentence/525613/5 "2010-01-19T23:39:09Z")
If you are quoting a verbal statement that was a single sentence, I would capitalize “Large”. If you are quoting from written/printed material, it would depend on how it was originally written. Either way, I would drop the “that” and just go with the comma. ---
**Author:** ![Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8491ac/32.png) [@Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fake_Tales_of_San_Francisco)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammer-capitalizing-a-full-sentence-quote-within-a-sentence/525613/6 "2010-01-20T00:35:13Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > Some other way. > > > [@](#): > > > > “Large voluptuous bottoms,” Mayor Dinkleberry openly admitted, “are very attractive on a baby penguin.” This feels a little disjointed to me, since it makes little sense to admit ‘large voluptuous bottoms’. The next section clarifies what he is admitting (that they are very attractive on a baby penguin) but we don’t know this until we read it. It would make more sense to say “Large voluptuous bottoms are very attractive on a baby penguin,” Mayor Dinkleberry openly admitted. But I agree with Irishman, the first example, no comma. ---
**Author:** ![Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8491ac/32.png) [@Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fake_Tales_of_San_Francisco)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammer-capitalizing-a-full-sentence-quote-within-a-sentence/525613/7 "2010-01-20T00:44:10Z")
> [@Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](#): > > This feels a little disjointed to me. Edit time has expired. If you are going to split speech to clarify who is speaking and how they are speaking (and revealing intentions behind speaking), then you need to be careful what you write, since it must clarify what has happened previously if you are writing in past tense. For example: “What’s the difference between a computer and a blonde?” Gary laughed, thoroughly pleased with his repertoire of corny gags. “The computer is smarter, but the blonde is easier to turn on!” Whilst we know Gary finds himself hilarious, it feels slightly odd that we know this before the punchline so to speak. ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammer-capitalizing-a-full-sentence-quote-within-a-sentence/525613/8 "2010-01-20T00:50:15Z")
As others have stated, the use of the word _that_ indicates that you are paraphrasing and not quoting. Drop the comma after _that_, delete the quotation marks, and do not capitalize the “L” in “Large.” Or, if it is a direct quote, delete _that_, use the comma, and capitalize. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammer-capitalizing-a-full-sentence-quote-within-a-sentence/525613/9 "2010-01-20T01:14:31Z")
never mind ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammer-capitalizing-a-full-sentence-quote-within-a-sentence/525613/10 "2010-01-20T01:31:47Z")
I’d drop the adverb, openly. Writing teachers have a big thing about adverbs. My last teacher wouldn’t tolerate any adverbs.