Silly little question, but in my example I can't decide whether I need a comma or a full stop after 'something else'. Is the first sentence a speech tag?

So I asked something else. 'Have you ever drunk sugarcane juice through a Moslem's beard?'

And would it be the same for:

I asked another question. 'Have you ever, etc.'

Advice appreciated.

So I asked something else.

This is a sentence because it contains a finite verb. A finite verb is a verb that has a number (he, she, I, Fred, the twins, Parliament etc) and then the verb in a tense.

So, "asking something else" or "to ask something else" are not finite verbs. If you wanted to use either of those structures in a sentence then you'd have to add a finite verb e.g. "To ask something else, I enquired about his aunty". Or "Asking something else I took a sip of my drink."

Not sure if I've not just made things more complicated.

I think it's:

So I asked something else, "have you ever ...
and
I asked another question. "Have you ever ...

I'm going to be awkward and suggest that it's a colon that's required:

So I asked something else: 'Have you ever...'

The reason I think this is that the first clause is clearly introducing what follows, which is when a colon is generally used.

Jem is right in saying that that first clause is a complete sentence. It could stand on its own, for example, without being followed by a quote of what was said, and in that case it would be grammatically correct.

Yes, I'd accept a colon too, but not a comma under any circs.

<Added>

and not the lower case h

Thanks everyone, I've gone for the colon, it does seem to fit. Strange, but I hadn't even considered it before.

This is an interesting one with lots of options.

This is a sentence because it contains a finite verb.

I agree, Jem, but I'm not sure that it's a reason not to use a comma. The two sections don't have to be separate sentences.

In the usual simple situation

He asked, 'Are you there?'

the use of the comma is quite OK but both sections contain finite verbs.

In this example, I'd say that 'something else' and the question that follows are both in apposition. The 'something else' and the question refer to the same thing and both are effectively the object of 'asked'. The comma can be correctly used between phrases in apposition as in

I spoke to the tall man, the first person in the queue.

So I reckon a case can be made for using the comma here (but with the accepted use of the slightly illogical capitalisation of the first word of the speech section). However, I have no problem with the full stop either, with both sections standing as separate sentences. Equally, the colon or a dash (which might be my favourite here) would be fine, and I can see that, for whatever reason, there is something ungainly about the comma in this situation.

<Added>

Caution - toothache may have rendered above incoherent or over-rescriptive!

I think a comma would jar, because the two parts don't go together as sub-clauses of the same sentence. For me, on the other hand, the full stop creates too strong a separation between them, because the first clause clearly introduces the quoted speech.

Yes, my first thought was a colon. IT seems to have dropped out of use - in older books you often see eveng

He said: "How do you do."

But I think it's just job here.

In the usual simple situation He asked, 'Are you there?' the use of the comma is quite OK but both sections contain finite verbs.

"Asked" looks like a finite verb (they seem to call it "main verb" these days) but it's questionable whether "He asked." is a complete sentence, because I think "asked", like "said" (?) is a transitive verb - it needs an direct or indirect object. In a speech the object is the chunk of speech, or it could be "he asked a question". but not just "He asked."