Punctuation: direct speech
One of 97 rules YabLab tracks in German writing.
Er sagte ich komme gleich.
Er sagte: „Ich komme gleich.“
Punctuation: direct speech
Punctuation marks the boundaries and relationships that speech expresses through pauses and intonation. Each mark must match the sentence structure.
- Structure first
- Identify clauses and phrases A comma, period or other mark follows the grammatical boundary, not the length of the sentence.
- Meaning
- Choose the relationship Different marks can signal continuation, separation, explanation or interruption.
- Read aloud
- Use sound only as a final check A pause can confirm a boundary, but grammar decides whether punctuation is required.
What YabLab does with this mistake
- Catches it right as you write — comments, email, docs.
- Explains the why in your language, not just the fix.
- Helps you practice it until it is gone for good.