Commas Quotes Question Marks

The placement of question marks with quotation marks follows logic.

Commas quotes question marks. Because the quoted words are not a question and the entire sentence is a question the question mark goes outside the quotation marks. However if the quote is a question a question mark needs to be used to show the reader that the sentence is an interrogative sentence. Double quotation marks is a whole different story in british english. This week let s look at the more logical rules governing the use of question marks with quotation marks.

The most common question people ask about quotation marks is whether periods and commas go inside or outside and the answer depends on where your audience lives because in american english we always put periods and commas inside quotation marks but in british english periods and commas can go inside or outside kind of like the american rules. Commas can be tricky but they don t have to trip you up. You can also see single quotation marks instead of double quotation marks in headlines of newspaper articles. In the examples below the question mark supersedes the weaker full point.

About the book author geraldine woods has more than 35 years of teaching experience. Last week we examined the strict rule governing periods and commas with quotation marks. She was heard to mutter did you do it can you verify. Mignon fogarty is the founder of quick and dirty tips and the author of seven books on language including the new york times bestseller grammar girl s quick and dirty tips for better writing she is an inductee in the podcasting hall of fame and the show is a five time winner of best education podcast in the podcast awards.

If a question is within the quoted material a question mark should be placed inside the quotation marks. When the punctuation mark is not part of the quoted material as in the case of single words and phrases place it outside the closing quotation mark. Punctuation includes capitals commas question marks exclamation marks quotation marks and full stops. She asked will you still be my.

If a question is in quotation marks the question mark should be placed inside the quotation marks. The logical view holds that the only punctuation marks which should be placed inside the quotation marks are those that form part of the quotation while all others should be placed outside. And of course all of these rules apply to american english single vs.