Does Question Mark Go Outside Quotes

However this is not always the case with exclamation points and question marks.

Does question mark go outside quotes. According to ap style a question mark is inside quotation marks if that part is the question and outside the quotation marks if the whole sentence is a question. Colons and semicolons are placed outside quotations while question marks and exclamation marks follow the logic of the sentence. Sentence ending punctuation is a whole different story. Whether these punctuation marks go inside or outside quotation marks depends on context.

This page has examples showing the different conventions for placing punctuation inside or outside quotation marks. In american english periods go inside quotation marks. It s part of the punctuation of the surrounding sentence rather than of the quotation the question mark however is part of the spoken text so it s placed inside the quotes. This rule makes sense too don t you think to sum up the rules on question marks.

If the quoted words are a question put the question mark inside the quotation marks. This question mostly refers to the sentence ending punctuation marks punctuation marks that introduce a quote are never placed within quotation marks. The same rule applies to exclamation marks and dashes. Rule when you have a question outside quoted material and inside quoted material use only one question mark and place it inside the quotation mark.

If the quote is a question or exclamation the punctuation mark goes inside the quotation marks. Therefore no period after war is used. We had such a great time. Another exception is if the quoted material is a full sentence and stands alone i e without a carrier expression such as he said.

The comma is not considered to be part of what was actually said so it was placed outside the quotes. But if the question mark or exclamation point are not part of the quotation they go outside the closing quotation mark. Also the stronger punctuation mark wins. Inside when the question belongs to the source the committee asked rather rhetorically does this rule really apply.

In the next examples the terminal punctuation is part of the quotation so it stays inside the final quotation mark. Put it outside if the question belongs to the writer. For this reason it is placed outside the quotation marks. If the quoted words aren t a question but the entire sentence is a question the question mark goes outside the quotation marks.