Can you reply directly to a comment instead of adding to thread?

Hi All 

I am trying to find more information on replying directly to comments, specifically asked this question by one of my colleagues 

“Is there any way to reply to someones comment directly as opposed to inline with the entire thread?  ie: i dont want to add a reply in the thread (increasing number of thread messages) but rather reply to someones comment in a thread under their comment.”

Am I missing something? is this information somewhere else?

Please help!