"Do I," he asked, "capitalize the C in capitalize?"

After a comma there is no capital, so the third down is right.

Actually, I'd do it thus: "Shut up," he growled. "She's going to kill you." Two separate sentences.

If you say: ' "Shut up." He growled. "She's going to kill you.",' you are giving the thought that he said "shut up", then stopped talking, growled like a bear, (dog? lion?) and then started talking again. The first instance gives the tone of voice.

To add to what Sandi's said, the example "Do I," he asked, "capitalize the C?" is correct. he asked interrupts a complete question that would stand alone perfectly without it. You can also place it at the beginning or the end of the question to keep the flow. You would only capitalize the C if it started a new sentence after he said.

"Shut up." He growled. "She's gonna kill you."

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This one is technically correct, but it sounds like he said something, growled for a bit, then said something else. It doesn't read well.

"Shut up," he growled, "She's gonna kill you."

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In this one, the "S" in "She's" should not be capitalized, because the speaker apparently hasn't finished his sentence with "Shut up." I think it reads awkwardly, though.

"Shut up," he growled, "she's gonna kill you."

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Technically, this one is correct. If I meant the speaker to say all this as a complete sentence, considering "Shut up" acting as a mild interjection rather than an imperative sentence on its own, I'd write: "Shut up, she's gonna kill you!" he growled.

"Shut up!" he growled, "she's gonna kill you."

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This should have a period after "growled" and a capital "S" on "she's." "Shut up!" is acting as a an imperative sentence here, its thought completed by the "he growled," and "She's gonna kill you" is a whole new sentence needing its own capital.

My preference would be to write this sentence

"Shut up!" he growled. "She's gonna kill you!"

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though I can also see a situation in which the form with a comma after the "Shut up," might be more apropos.

--Q

"Shut up," he growled. "She's gonna kill you."

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That would be the way I'd write it.

Try visulizing it without the quotation marks. Put periods at the ends of sentences (so decide whether 'he growled' is a sentence on its own or part of 'shut up'), and capitalize accordingly.

In your first case, you're correct to use the comma and not capitalize the C, although I question why you have a pause between "Do I" and "capitalize." Does he stutter?

In your second example, there seems to be no reason for it to be one sentence, so it should be:

"Shut up," he growled. "She's gonna kill you."

Although one might argue that you can't "growled" a speech (but I'd say you can), so in that case, it would be:

"Shut up." He growled. "She's gonna kill you." -- "he growled" isn't a dialogue tag but an action separated from the dialogue.

"Shut up!" he growled, "she's gonna kill you."

I've seen it done that way, ? and ! are treated the same as , by many editors I've read.

Yes, an exclamation mark can certainly appear in the middle of a sentence. In this instance, though, it looks awkward.

Mumut said:

After a comma there is no capital, so the third down is right.

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Good point. But in the instance where the comma (or a colon) is used to introduce a quote of one full sentence, then you must capitalize.

Of course, I understand your response is in context to the examples cited.

Someday I'll learn how to post. I have a question about exclamations! Isn't an exclamation mark, as a question mar, equivalent to a period? Shouldn't the following word be capitalized? "Shut up!" He growled, "she's gonna kill you."

Oberon said:

Someday I'll learn how to post. I have a question about exclamations! Isn't an exclamation mark, as a question mar, equivalent to a period? Shouldn't the following word be capitalized? "Shut up!" He growled, "she's gonna kill you."

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Not in dialogue. It's an inversion so the whole thing is one sentence; so no capitalization:

"Shut up!" he growled.

Besides, the comma in the following does not make sense:


"Shut up!" He growled, "she's gonna kill you."

Oberon said:

I have a question about exclamations! Isn't an exclamation mark, as a question mar, equivalent to a period? Shouldn't the following word be capitalized? "Shut up!" He growled, "she's gonna kill you."

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Maestro is right. In that instance, with dialogue you would treat the exclamation mark (or question mark also) as if it were a comma, because it is a continuation of the sentence.

"How are you doing today?" he asked.

It wouldn't be "How are you doing today?" He asked. Because that would make the he asked a brand new sentence, not a continuation of the sentence before it. So you just have to pretend that the exclamation or question mark is a comma.

"How are you doing today," he asked.

If you're continuing the sentence, there would be one space between the last quotation mark and the he, and no capital H.

"Does that make any sense?" she asked with a grin.