Quotation marks (” “) are a beloved form of punctuation in the English language, used to indicate a verbatim report on what someone said, and used in a great deal of business writing. They are often misused. This article will explain some punctuation rules and clear up some misconceptions held by many about proper usage of quotation marks with other punctuation marks.
When to Put Periods and Commas Inside Quotes – The United States
In the United States, commas and periods ALWAYS go INSIDE the quotation marks, whether or not the comma is actually part of the quotation.
Here are some examples from some recent discussions on LinkedIn. Don’t expect this rule to be logical:
CORRECT (in US): E.g. stands for “exempli gratia.”
CORRECT (in US): As for [the phrase] “graduating college,” I’m not sure when it became correct.
INCORRECT (in US): You are my “go-to person”.
INCORRECT (in US): I was unaware of the difference [between initialisms and acronyms] until I heard it on the NPR program “A Way With Words”.
INCORRECT (in US): “Its” is the possessive form of “it”, and is rare among possessives…
When to Put Periods and Commas Inside Quotes – The UK & Australia
Leave logic to the Brits. In the UK and Australia, they keep punctuation inside the quotation marks only when it is part of the quotation. For example:
CORRECT (in UK): I was unaware of the difference [between initialisms and acronyms] until I heard it on the NPR program “A Way With Words”.
CORRECT (in UK): You are my “go-to person”.
CORRECT (in UK): “Its” is the possessive form of “it”, and is rare among possessives…
INCORRECT (In UK): E.g. stands for “exempli gratia.”
INCORRECT (in UK): As for [the phrase] “graduating college,” I’m not sure when it became correct.
When the Period or Comma is Part of the Quotation
If the punctuation mark is part of the quotation, always put it inside the quotation marks!
INCORRECT (everywhere): It is written, “Man does not live by bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God”.
CORRECT (everywhere): It is written, “Man does not live by bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
Punctuating Letter Names
Some grammarians say we should use the logical way of punctuating in the case of letters. For example:
- The eighth letter of the alphabet is “h”.
- Name three words that start with an “e”, and three that start with a “k”.
I prefer to avoid this issue by italicizing the names of letters:
- The eighth letter of the alphabet is h.
- Name three words that start with an e, and three that start with a k.
Exclamation Points and Question Marks
When it comes to exclamation points and question marks, we all get to be logical. If the quote is a question or exclamation, include the punctuation inside the quotation marks. If it’s not, don’t.
- She asked, “Which way is it to the theater?”
- Did she say, “I absolutely love the theater, darling”?
- I’m so excited to see “In the Heights”!
- I get chills every time I hear King Richard declare, “Off with his head!”
Semicolons and Colons
Here’s some more good news: We get to be logical with semicolons and colons too!
- The following items go in the bin labeled “Paper Recycling”: magazines, newspapers, envelopes, and clean cardboard.
- Put magazines, newspapers, and envelopes in the bin labeled “Paper Recycling”; do not put paper towels, tissues, or greasy pizza boxes in there!
(It’s so much fun to sneak a public service announcement into a grammar blog!)
What if I’m Canadian?
All bets are off (or on, as the case may be), in Canada. Do it the way you think your readers will expect you to do it, or the way your editor requires you to do it. As far as I can tell, you get to choose unless under prescription by someone else.
There are many more subtleties to the use of quotation marks. If you have questions, ask The Essay Expert. I’m happy to provide my most educated answer. If you’re not already on our Grammar & Writing Tips e-list and you’d like more tips like this, sign up here.
Thanks for this Brenda.
It’s no wonder we manage to get the rules in a muddle when you consider how great the range of sites we read from in a day.
I, for one, don’t check the origin of all the sites I visit. To make it even more confusing, we see posts on social networking sites from all over the world.
A UK reader may simply scoff and tut at a US poster’s grammar/punctuation, blissfully unaware that the US reader is doing just the same back!
We need to raise awareness of our divided language.
Thanks for your great comment, Pattie! Yes, to clarify, your readers’ expectations and demands always come first. If you are writing professionally in any country, find out which style guide your employer wants you to use and follow it! It is for personal correspondence or other unregulated writing that I believe the writer gets to choose.
I’m not sure I’ve ever been informed about international differences regarding quotation mark rules — thanks for the crash course! 😀
Up until today, I never doubted that punctuation — any punctuation — that wasn’t part of a quote should go outside the quotation marks. After reading your post, out of curiosity, I skimmed some of my published articles. In every one of them, that little habit of mine had been corrected, so that it all agreed with the rules as you have explained them. In any back-and-forth I’d done with an editor, I had failed to notice that change — or maybe it had come later.
So, thanks. From now on, I can give them their punctuation correctly from the start. But perhaps some day, I’ll write the original version of something for a British publication. Then, I’ll be able to both BE correct and FEEL correct!
Re: What if I’m Canadian? —
There is something called “mid-Atlantic” style, which I think of as a euphemism for Canadian.
I have Canadian clients who request that I use: The Economist Styleguide — which includes your suggestions for quote marks (in fact, their section on quote marks is fairly extensive), and for spelling issues, The New Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors.
My Canadian friends have verified this — they spell “analyze” as “analyse,” and “categorize” as “categorise,” yet “realize,” “memorize” and “finalize” are spelled how we would spell them.
Per British punctuation, are these correct?
1. I don’t like his pithy sentence ‘It is what it is’. (Full stop outside?)
2. The sign said ‘Keep off the Grass’. (Full stop outside?)
3. I like the old adage ‘A stitch in time saves nine’. (Full stop outside?)
4. His email said, ‘There will be a mandatory meeting on January 1, 2013 at Town Hall. … Please be punctual’. (Full stop outside?)
5. The signs ‘Beware of dog’, ‘Swim at your own risk’, ‘Trespassers will be arrested’ and ‘Shoplifters will be prosecuted’ were posted throughout the village. (Commas outside mid-sentence quotes?)
I believe the periods should be inside the quotation marks in #1, #3 and #4 since the periods are part of the quoted sentences.
One more, please. I’m thinking that No 2 below is correct with the ending punctuation like this (.”‘) – the full stop inside both the double and single quote per British style. Am I right? If not, which is preferred and why?
1) Mike said, ‘I heard Judith say, “I’m not interested in the management position”.’
2) Mike said, ‘I heard Judith say, “I’m not interested in the management position.”‘
3) Mike said, ‘I heard Judith say, “I’m not interested in the management position”‘.
Thank you.
Again, since the quoted sentences include periods, I would put the periods inside the quotation marks. I would choose #2:
Mike said, ‘I heard Judith say, “I’m not interested in the management position.”‘
In the United States, it would be:
Mike said, “I heard Judith say, ‘I’m not interested in the management position.'”
Thank you. Last questions on this. Again, per *British* style, would the commas separate the questions after the exclamation points and question marks?
1) Barry hated his wife’s ‘How much did you drink?’, ‘How late were you out?’ and ‘Did you cheat on me?’ questions.
2) When she screamed’Get the hell out of here!’, the children got scared.
3) When he said, ‘Be careful what you wish for’, most people listened.
(Comma ‘outside’ the the single quote after the word ‘for’?)
4) “I called his mother a ‘purveyor of malicious quips’.”
My best take on these:
#1: I believe this sentence is correctly punctuated.
#2: I don’t think the comma is necessary here at all.
#3: The comma here should be inside the quotation mark because it replaces the period. I know, it’s confusing.
#4: Why are there two sets of quotation marks here?
Thank you.
In lieu of #4 (to more accurately depict the example), I believe this to be correct. Of course, I don’t want to use italics here. Again, this is per BrE style.
‘I’m not sure whether I can define the word “tergiversate”.’
‘When they asked me to define the word “tergiversate”, I couldn’t.’
(Comma outside of ‘tergiversate’ mid-sentence as exampled?)
That’s all I have on this subject. You’ve been great, and I thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. Have a nice day!
In both these examples again I don’t see the need for the double sets of quotation marks! Do you mean to ask about a sentence where someone said these things?
He said, ‘I’m not sure whether I can define the word “tergiversate”.’
She complained, ‘When they asked me to define the word “tergiversate”, I couldn’t.’
Sometimes a better solution is to write the sentence in a different way so as to avoid these issues! For instance, He said that he was not sure whether he could define the word ‘tergiversate’.
Yes. All I wanted to know was if somebody said it, would the sentence end as I had it – (“.’)
Thank you for your time.
Thank you!
You’re welcome, Avi!