Question Mark In Quotes Comma

Therefore the following are correct.

Question mark in quotes comma. In english we typically use a comma to separate a quotation from an attributive tag a tag that tells the reader who is speaking or acting e g he thought or said he even if the quote would usually end in a period. Merry christmas squiggly said. There was a storm last night paul said. In the uk the tendency is to place them outside.

How to punctuate quotations with question marks. Punctuation includes capitals commas question marks exclamation marks quotation marks and. How many days until christmas. How do you do things why do you do things and where do you do things he asked.

Such doubled punctuation improves the readability of the sentence yet for these sentences this looks to be the key advice similarly when the quoted matter ending with a question mark or an exclamation point. 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. In the us periods and commas are placed inside quotation marks. Colons and semicolons are placed outside quotations while question marks and exclamation marks follow the logic of the sentence.

Appears at the end of a nonrestrictive phrase or dependent clause insert a comma before the closing quotation mark. The only real exception to the rule is when a character is quoting another character and the use of single quote marks inside double quote marks come into play. Sentence ending punctuation is a whole different story. It s important to note that whenever the question falls inside quote marks the question mark generally falls inside the quote marks as shown in the examples above.

Our rule 5b of question marks says if a quoted question ends in midsentence the question mark replaces a comma therefore the following are correct. Comma after question mark. Does punctuation go inside or outside quotation marks. This question mostly refers to the sentence ending punctuation marks punctuation marks that introduce a quote are never placed within quotation marks.

Note in the first example below that when the question mark is part of the title of a work that is set in italics as it is in the cited novel the question mark is italicized. A quotation ending with a question mark or an exclamation point sometimes also requires a comma before the closing quotation mark. In the united states the rule of thumb is that commas and periods always go inside the quotation marks and colons and semicolons dashes as well go outside. Although it s not exactly the same situation the ap stylebook says that when you d put a comma at the end of a quotation before the attribution but the quotation ends in a question mark you should omit the comma.

It s put there as it s a quote from a lyric and it s there to emphasise the fact the lyric is shouted. If the quoted words are a question put the question mark inside the quotation marks.