Question

which sentence is correct? she stated \the ship just arrived in the harbor.\ she stated, the ship just arrived in the harbor. she stated the ship just arrived in the harbor. she stated, \the ship just arrived in the harbor.\

Explanation:

To determine the correct sentence, we follow the rules of direct speech punctuation. When introducing a direct quote, we use a comma after the reporting verb ("stated") and enclose the quote in quotation marks.

• The first option is missing the comma before the quote.
• The second option is missing the quotation marks around the direct speech.
• The third option is missing both the comma and the quotation marks.
• The fourth option correctly uses a comma after "stated" and encloses the direct speech in quotation marks.

Answer:

D. She stated, "The ship just arrived in the harbor."