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Thursday, July 21, 2011

QUESTION: Why do you place punctuation outside quote marks sometimes and not others?

ANSWER: I have chosen to place punctuation inside the quotation marks that signify dialog and outside the quotation marks that do not.
Example: “The ghost is standing behind you,” she said. “Eek!” he shouted.
Example: Don’t you consider the feelings of the “ghost”? Ghosts are defined as “spirits”.

2 comments:

Bettyjane said...

I learned that all punctuation goes inside the quotation marks. How can the teacher be wrong?

The Grammar Anarchist said...

Because teachers are human and learn all kinds of “wrong” stuff along the way. She taught you what she had learned. Besides, if that's what you choose to do — be my guest. It isn't ”wrong”, it’s just not my preference.