Punctuation with Quotation Marks
Rules for US English
Commas and periods should be placed inside quotation marks.
Question marks and exclamation points go inside if they are attached to the quote and outside if they aren’t.
Colons and semicolons go outside the quotation mark
Examples:
She said, “It is really cold today, so I would wear gloves.”
“It is really cold today, so I would wear gloves,” she said.
- Commas and periods are inside the quotation marks
Did you read the article “How to Survive This Brutal Winter”?
In the article they asked, “Do you find yourself sadder in the winter time?”
- Question mark was outside when the whole sentence was the question.
- Question mark was inside with the quote was the question.
She said, “It is really cold today, so I would wear gloves”; he didn’t listen.
I feel that song “Walking in a Winter Wonderland”: all those winter activities are great.
- Semicolons and colons go outside.
Can you tell I am writing this blog in the wintertime? It is negative degrees here right now. Blah!
Rule with parenthetical citations
When you have a parenthetical citation, the period follows the citation rather than going inside the quote.
Example
She said, “It is possible to be happy in the winter time” (How to Survive, 39).
Practice
- (place a colon where it goes) Her purse contained all her “must haves” lipstick, notebook, and mace.
- (place a period where it goes) Craig described the child as “a little cheeky but too cute to care”
- (place a question mark where it goes) Did you read “The Road Not Taken”
- (place a period where it goes) He replied, “I meant what I said and I said what I meant” (Seuss)
- (place a comma where it goes) “I meant what I said and I said what I meant” he replied.
- (place a question mark where it goes) Does she always tell you to “Complain less and do more”
- (place a question mark where it goes) She asked, “Don’t you want to go”
- (place a semicolon where it goes) Craig described the child as “a little cheeky but too cute to care” others said she was “defiant and unapologetic.”
Answers
- (place a colon where it goes) Her purse contained all her “must haves”: lipstick, notebook, and mace.
- (place a period where it goes) Craig described the child as “a little cheeky but too cute to care.”
- (place a question mark where it goes) Did you read “The Road Not Taken”?
- (place a period where it goes) He replied, “I meant what I said and I said what I meant” (Seuss).
- (place a comma where it goes) “I meant what I said and I said what I meant,” he replied.
- (place a question mark where it goes) Does she always tell you to “complain less and do more”?
- (place a question mark where it goes) She asked, “Don’t you want to go?”
- (place a semicolon where it goes) Craig described the child as “a little cheeky but too cute to care”; others said she was “defiant and unapologetic.”
