What I usually do in that situation is Ctrl + u (delete all the way back to the start of the line), then type the intermediate command, then Ctrl + y (place the

What I usually do in that situation is Ctrl + u (delete all the way back to the start of the line), then type the intermediate command, then Ctrl + y (place the deleted partial line back on the prompt, with my cursor at the end where it was). This assume Emacs-style bindings for the shell.