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This something that I'm very confused about...
You see, here is one example of the sentence:

  • I ran ahead and said, "I don't want that," and crashed against a wall.

In this sentence, you don't need to capitalize "and" even if there is a dialogue in-between because it's preceded with a comma, so it's still one sentence.

But what about this:

  • The guy squished ahead, yelling, “Shut up and take my money!” Before throwing a handful of cash at another person.**

There is a "!" that it's no longer a comma, so do you capitalize the next word or not?

Edwin Ashworth
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ZZZ
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    The part following before is not a new sentence, so it doesn't need a capital letter. – Kate Bunting Feb 26 '22 at 12:37
  • (1) You don't capitalise 'and' in your first example. It would be incorrect. But if you chose to use a full stop and a sentence fragment (care) you must capitalise the sentence fragment: << I ran ahead and said "I don't want that." And crashed against a wall. >> (Note I prefer the option of zero rather than a comma introductory punctuation here. The inverted commas suffice to offset.) //// (2) Here, you have a choice. If you want to consider the whole as a single sentence (as Kate does), the non-capitalisation within a sentence rule trumps the capitalisation after !/./? rule. ... – Edwin Ashworth Feb 26 '22 at 12:55
  • However, you can choose to treat 'Before throwing a handful of cash at another person.' as a sentence fragment, which requires the capital. This adds more of a staccato effect. It also puts up the hackles of ultra-traditionalists, who dislike any use of sentence fragments ... so be aware of your audience. Fragments beginning with 'before' are doubtless fairly rare in literature. – Edwin Ashworth Feb 26 '22 at 12:56
  • @KateBunting I see, I had thought so as well, but am not sure. – ZZZ Feb 26 '22 at 13:08
  • @EdwinAshworth Sorry, what do you mean "option of zero" that you prefer, is it a period or null of any punctuation? But I see that I have an option here. Thank you for explaining. – ZZZ Feb 26 '22 at 13:09
  • Sorry; I'll expand to clarify. 'I prefer the option of zero introductory punctuation rather than a comma [as] introductory punctuation here.' You might find answers at Punctuating illustrating questions and Can I use quotation marks to suggest that somebody should say something? helpful. – Edwin Ashworth Feb 26 '22 at 16:00
  • ... BusinessWriting gives examples of zero punctuation before quotes that are not direct speech. NUI Galway Marketing and Communications Office style Guide includes an example using direct speech: 'Obama said “This is a great day for Ireland.” ' – Edwin Ashworth Feb 26 '22 at 16:03

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