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How do I punctuate this?

She said, "How many are there?", "What is his name?", and "When can she get there?"

Dana
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  • In my opinion, this should be avoided entirely. But to answer your question, I'd do the following: She asked, "How many are there," "What is his name," and "When can she get there?" By opening with She asked, you eliminate the need for the first two question marks. – VampDuc Sep 22 '15 at 18:07
  • I might use semicolons instead of commas. – Tragicomic Sep 22 '15 at 18:10

2 Answers2

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The best answer to this will depend on whether you want UK or US English punctuation conventions. US style can be seen in an example from Chicago Manual of Style 6.123, where the comma is omitted following an exclamation point:

Her favorite songs are "Hello Dolly!" "Chicago," and "Come with Me!"

Following that, yours would read:

She said, "How many are there?" "What is his name?" and "When can she get there?"

A cleaner alternative might be the following, though it indicates that the speaker says the word "and":

She said, "How many are there? What is his name? And when can she get there?"

UK style would put the commas after each quote:

She said, "How many are there?", "What is his name?", and "When can she get there?"

Nathaniel is protesting
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Alternatively you could use semicolons, which correctly go outside quotes:

She said, "How many are there?"; "What is his name?"; and "When can she get there?"

Feralthinker
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