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-   -   Where to place punctuation - inside or outside quotation marks (https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/showthread.php?t=179016)

  • Jan 31, 2008, 02:31 PM
    onetothree
    Where to place punctuation - inside or outside quotation marks
    In the sentence:

    When meeting someone, you should say, "Nice to meet you"

    Where do I put the period, inside or outside the end quotation marks?

    Same with a comma, where do I place the punctuation after a quote - like:

    When someone says, "Nice to meet you" you should reply with the same.
  • Jan 31, 2008, 02:37 PM
    J_9
    I can't do your homework for you, but I can help

    Now, which one looks better?

    "Nice to meet you." OR "Nice to meet you".

    It'll be the same with the comma.

    AND

    When someone says, "Nice to meet you," you should reply with the same.

    OR

    When someone says, "Nice to meet you", you should reply with the same.

    Again which one looks better, the first or the second?
  • Jan 31, 2008, 03:17 PM
    J_9
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by onetothree
    I am a 55 year old editor - who is not doing my homework - for your info, in England they do it one way (outside) and in America the other (inside), so I was asking more to find out if it could be done the British way in America still or if it would be considered "wrong". You seem to be full of yourself from your college education - sorry to be so blunt, but not only were you of no help, you were patronizing to boot. I read your profile to see if you had the qualification of an editor, and you don't, so I would suggest you get down off of your high horse and you might learn something.

    I think it's time you get off your high horse. You are new here and don't know how things work around here. We get a million homework questions from children who would rather us do their homework for them. That is against the site rules.

    Your question was identical to other homework questions asked here. You're freaking lucky you got an answer other than this:

    https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/math-s...board-b-u.html

    Which is the common answer to what seems to be homework questions.

    And in response to your OTHER rude PM to me, yes, this PM was rather insulting as I have been in the legal field, editing legal documents, for quite a few years prior to going back to nursing school. So, I DO know where to place punctuation.

    I don't have to be an editor to be intelligent.
  • Jan 31, 2008, 04:18 PM
    shygrneyzs
    A very good resource is OWL - OWL: Handouts: Grammar, Punctuation, and Spelling
  • Feb 1, 2008, 01:31 AM
    supriya _82
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by J_9
    I think it's time you get off your high horse. You are new here and don't know how things work around here. We get a million homework questions from children who would rather us do their homework for them. That is against the site rules.

    Your question was identical to other homework questions asked here. You're freaking lucky you got an answer other than this:

    https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/math-s...board-b-u.html

    Which is the common answer to what seems to be homework questions.

    And in response to your OTHER rude PM to me, yes, this PM was rather insulting as I have been in the legal field, editing legal documents, for quite a few years prior to going back to nursing school. So, I DO know where to place punctuation.

    I don't have to be an editor to be intelligent.

    Well done J_9.
  • Feb 5, 2008, 04:35 PM
    twinkiedooter
    Any punctuation belongs outside of the quotes marks. Just check any book you own in your house to see this answer.
  • Feb 5, 2008, 08:03 PM
    Wondergirl
    The U.S. rules are somewhat different from the UK rules.
    Here is information from http://www.grammarmudge.cityslide.com/Home.html (a very reliable U.S. site) --

    Where Do Other Punctuation Marks Go with Respect to Closing Quotation Marks?
    21 May 2004

    Here are the rules for punctuation with closing quotation marks.

    Semicolons and colons always go outside the closing quotation marks. Examples:
    > Here are some main ideas in the essay entitled “Of Studies”:
    > On one side of the auditorium, people were singing “Hail to the Chief”; on the other side, they were chanting protests.

    A question mark goes inside the closing quotation marks if the quoted material is a question:
    He asked, “When do we eat?” “What is serendipity?” he asked.

    The question mark goes outside if it belongs to the sentence and not to the quoted material: Did the parrot say, “Give Polly a cracker”? Did you call me a “moron”? Do you know the meaning of “serendipity”? Exclamation points follow the same principle.

    In the United States, periods and commas always go inside the closing quotation marks.
    > The essay was originally called “An Agnostic's Faith,” but the author renamed it “An Agnostic's Belief.”
    > If he keeps calling you “Sam,” don't be upset; he calls everyone “Sam.”
    > In an article headlined “The Politics of Trash Talk,” George Will asserts that both presidential candidates are speaking “with studied irrelevance.”

    However, the rest of the world treats commas and periods differently than the U.S. does, placing commas and periods inside or outside the closing quotation marks depending on the whether the period or comma belongs to the quoted material or to a larger part of the sentence. They are, in essence, applying the same logic to the comma and period that is applied to the exclamation point and question mark.


    Here's a quote from the British journal, The Economist:
    .. . Tax cuts for the better-off would be matched by an increase in the “job bonus”, a sort of tax credit for those too poor to pay an income tax. (The comma goes outside because it separates the appositive phrase from the rest of the sentence.) In the U.S. the comma after “tax bonus” would go inside the closing quotation mark:.. . An increase in the “job bonus,” a sort of tax credit for those too poor to pay an income tax. (This is because it is conventional in the U.S. to put commas and periods inside the closing quotes – no matter what.)

    Whether the globalization of communications will bring English-speaking countries into accord with regard to use of the comma and period with closing quotation marks remains to be seen. So far, this outcome does not seem likely. Newsweek still writes: Mario began his career in “Sweetback,” playing his father's character as a boy. The Economist, however, would write: Mario began his career in “Sweetback”, playing his father's character as a boy.
  • Feb 5, 2008, 08:51 PM
    twinkiedooter
    onetothree disagrees: In USA, punctuation goes inside quotes - in UK, outside - that is why I was asking, to see if I could put outside as l agree with outside.

    So if you agreed with me why did you give me a "reddie" then? Don't understand your asking a question then disagreeing and then agreeing in the same sentence.

    You didn't say where you were from. I though you were in the UK hence my answer. Same with you J_9 giving me a "reddie". There can be two answers to a question.

    You forgot the rest of my answer was "check any book in your house to see this answer".
  • Feb 5, 2008, 09:15 PM
    Wondergirl
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by twinkiedooter
    "check any book in your house to see this answer".

    That won't help.
  • Feb 5, 2008, 09:29 PM
    ineedhelpfast
    Look from what the asker is asking I don't see why he can't read a newspaper from where he lives to get that answer, and since he's from uk, he doesn't that in the US we put our punctuation inside the quotations. c'mon guys its not rocket science:)
  • Feb 5, 2008, 09:34 PM
    oneguyinohio
    If the OP had asked what country he was seeking information about and the reason for the question, it would have stimulated much less rhetoric of an international nature!
  • Feb 5, 2008, 09:38 PM
    ineedhelpfast
    Yeah wondergirl is right it took 3 pages to answer a simple question
  • Feb 7, 2008, 04:50 AM
    simoneaugie
    Simple? English is not simple. This subject is very difficult for many. It is a combination of logistics and language and location (the 3 ells.) The combination can turn simple English, UK citizenship or math into a swamp of muddled, possible, posibilities.
  • Oct 19, 2011, 11:42 AM
    defenderoftruth
    Wondergirl, You are great. Most of the rest of you... "*******S"!

    Oh, I hope my exlclamation point is in the right spot. Let me check a book, or a newspaper... I better do my homework...

    JACKASSES!

    Especially J-9... do you REALLY have to be so rude in order to be helpful... LEARN how to write texts and emails "appropriately," not just "intelligently."

    I doubt this will even post... but you all sicken me, so I had to waste my 2 minutes of life and complain to cyberspace.

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