1. A comma can be used before a quotation after words like "He said", "She whispered", "It stated", etc.
Examples:
The janitor said, "That's me in the '60s."

Bessie stretched across my plate and grunted, "salt...salt and pepper".

The sign states, "Animals drive very slowly".
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COMMAS FOR SHORT QUOTATIONS
There are guidelines (fast becoming outdated) which state that only a quotation of six words or fewer should be introduced with a comma. Longer quotations should be introduced with a colon. For example:
The janitor said: "See the long-haired one? That's me in the '60s."

(This is covered more in the lesson "Quotation
Marks.")
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