How To Use Commas And Quotation Marks

When using quotation marks in the united states place periods question marks exclamation points and commas placed at the end of a statement inside as illustrated below.

How to use commas and quotation marks. Use a comma after verbs of communication such as asked or said when they come right before a quote. The american style places commas and periods inside the quotation marks even if they are not in the original material. Is part of the quotation. When to use quotation marks. He said i hope you will be there soon.

The short fellow asked how s the weather up there. Question marks and exclamation marks sometimes go inside sometimes stay outside. In this post we outline the different approaches used in different parts of the english speaking world. Here is a brief guide to using quotation marks correctly. Strunk white gives this example.

What would you do i asked if money didn t matter the king shouted let the games. Quotation marks are for when you want to use someone else s words in your writing. Dashes colons and semicolons almost always go outside the quotation marks. British style uses single quotes for initial quotations then double quotes for quotations within the initial quotation. The placement of question marks with quotation marks follows logic.

You ll never be able to pass this course if you don t start working hard now the professor told me. Study the following examples to help you avoid the most common mistakes. Less commonly single quotation marks are used in place of parentheses in which case the translation is not set off with commas. He said that he hoped that i would be there soon here the use of quotation marks is wrong because the quotation marks are only used to mark the speaker s exact words. How to use quotation marks.

If a question is within the quoted material a question mark should be placed inside the quotation marks. British style places unquoted periods and commas outside the quotation marks. Commas and periods always go inside the quotation marks in american english. Comma goes inside you when the context calls for a comma at the end of material enclosed in quotation marks the comma should be placed inside the quotation marks. Use a comma after verbs of communication introducing a quotation and between split quotations.