Using Quotation Marks with Other Punctuation

To introduce a quoted sentence with a phrase, a comma is used:

e.g. According to G. B.Shaw, "Economy is the art of making the most of life."

To introduce a quoted sentence with a clause, a comma or colon is used:

e.g. In his first inaugural Address, Lincoln asked: "Why should there not be a patient confidence in the ultimate justice of the people?" Winston Churchill said, "To jaw-jaw is always better than to war-war."

Some writers use a comma after a short introductory clause and a colon after a long one. Other writers use a comma before quoting informal speech and a colon before quoting formal speech or writing.

The general practice is not to use a comma before a quoted part that is woven into the sentence,

e.g. Communism, he remarked, was not "in the American grain," - a fine phrase of William Carlos Williams; for, as he continued, "There is an American grain, and I wish to live with it, and I will not live against it knowingly." -Van Wyck Brooks, Opinions of Oliver Allston.

Quotation marks are used to introduce a quoted word or phrase or any quoted words introduced by that:

e.g. According to Jung, the "something greater" is the unconscious, which he defines as "a natural phenomenon producing symbols that prove to be meaningful."

The professor said Jung's theories have been "seminal." Margaret Atwood writes that "in fact, a character in a book who is consistently well-behaved probably spells disaster for the book."

To end a quoted statement that is followed by a tag, a comma is used:

e.g. "It's time for you to leave," said Mimi.

But the comma is not used if the quoted sentence ends in a question mark or an exclamation point:

e.g. "What's your problem?" John asked. "Get out!" she yelled.

To set off an interruptive tag, a pair of commas is used: e.g. "Ideas," writes Carl Jung, "spring from something greater than the

personal human being."

The word "spring" is lower-cased because it simply continues the quoted sentence.

To end a quoted statement that ends a sentence, a period is used:

e.g. The governor stated, "I will not seek reelection."

A closing comma or period goes inside the closing quotation mark:

e.g. "High school" writes Ellen Willis, "permanently damaged my self-esteem."

A closing semicolon or colon goes outside the closing quotation mark:

e.g. The customer wrote that she was "not yet ready to buy the first edition"; it was too expensive.

A question mark or an exclamation point is placed inside closing quotation marks when the quotation itself is a direct question or an exclamation. Otherwise, these marks are placed outside:

e.g. He asked, "Who is she?" [Only the quotation is a question.] "Who is she?" he asked. [Only the quotation is a question.] Did he ask, "Who is she?" [A quoted question within a question takes only one question mark - inside the quotation marks.] Did he say, "! know her"? [The entire sentence asks a question; the quotation makes a statement.]

She screamed, "Run!" [Only the quotation is an exclamation.] Curse the man who whispers, "No"! [The entire statement is an exclamation; the quotation is not.]

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