Jul 2, 2002 05:00
21 yrs ago
English term
United States
Comma, period, quotation mark
English
Art/Literary
Linguistics
Grammar
I learned 49 years ago that comma and period as a rule come before the quotation mark in American English. Now, WORD editing software does not agree.
I know there has been a high-level controversy about this, but can someone explain to me which usage is generally acceptable?
I know there has been a high-level controversy about this, but can someone explain to me which usage is generally acceptable?
Responses
| 5 +4 | Inside: you are right |
athena22
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| 4 +5 | It depends |
Chris Rowson (X)
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Responses
+4
12 mins
Selected
Inside: you are right
All punctuation marks go INSIDE the quotation marks in American English. So you are remembering correctly. EX: "Are you coming?" she asked. etc.
You might want to check and make sure that Word is set for American English and not for a different (e.g. British) flavor. My version of Word doesn't bat an eyelash at my punctuation/quotation usage.
Good luck!
You might want to check and make sure that Word is set for American English and not for a different (e.g. British) flavor. My version of Word doesn't bat an eyelash at my punctuation/quotation usage.
Good luck!
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Athena's answer is consistent with my understanding of the conventional American usage. Chris's points appear to be closer to British style, which I am glad to learn about. Thank you both for giving me your time and attention. (Honorifics omitted)"
+5
1 hr
It depends
It depends whether the punctuation belongs to the quote or to the whole sentence. For example, you asked about "comma and period". Here I must put the period outside the quote, because it belongs to the sentence as a whole, and not to what I am quoting. But you asked "can someone explain to me which usage is generally acceptable?" Here the question mark is inside the quotes because it is a part of the quote. And there is no period after it, because the question mark provides this function.
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Note added at 2002-07-02 06:49:37 (GMT)
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I doubt whether the Word software is able to implement this fully, you have to understand more of the sense than I think is possible for it. I don´t use Word puntuation checking. But this is correct English as I learnt it.
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Note added at 2002-07-02 06:49:37 (GMT)
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I doubt whether the Word software is able to implement this fully, you have to understand more of the sense than I think is possible for it. I don´t use Word puntuation checking. But this is correct English as I learnt it.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Endre Both
26 mins
|
| agree |
jerrie
52 mins
|
| agree |
Sarah Ponting
1 hr
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| agree |
John Kinory (X)
: In BE, full stops and commas go outside, unless specifically part of the quote. QMs - again, depends. But I am told that in your first example, AE puts the full stop inside, even though it's completely illogical.
3 hrs
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| agree |
cheungmo
: Not only is it correct, its logical too!
4 hrs
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| agree |
Anna Aljabiry
: That's how I learned it too. Periods and commas cannot be INSIDE all the time. It depends on the context.
8 hrs
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| disagree |
Vincentine
: In AE, commas and periods go inside quotation marks regardless of logic. The exceptions to this rule are exact quotes (computer code) and single-quoted philosophical concepts in philosophical discourse. Other punctuation marks follow BE rules.
1455 days
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