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Friday, June 3, 2011

Do you believe "all punctuation belongs inside quotation marks"?

The Anarchist loves to overthrow this "rule". While you may follow blindly, if you wish, there are choices. When the last word of a phrase or sentence is not part of dialog, The Anarchist places the punctuation outside. Look again at the title and the first sentence!

2 comments:

Elle B said...

"Yes," I believe "everything" belongs in "quotation marks" because "punctuation" is "underrated"!!!

The Grammar Anarchist said...

Elle, When a quoted word is not part of dialog, or falls at the end of a sentence, place the punctuation outside the quote marks. That's a guideline, not a "rule". Be careful about dissing punctuation -- it's what directs the reader -- to pause, stop, question, talk and listen, and understand.