Can I "Quote" That? The RIGHT Way to Use Quotation Marks
They are often misused.
This article will clear up some misconceptions held by many about proper usage of these marks.
Where to Place Periods (.
) and Commas (,) - The United States In the United States, commas and periods ALWAYS go INSIDE the quotation marks, whether or not the comma is part of the actual quotation.
Here are some examples I gleaned from some discussions on LinkedIn.
Don't expect this rule to be logical:
- Correct (in US): E.
g.
stands for "exempli gratia.
" - Correct (in US): As for [the phrase] "graduating college," I'm not sure when it became correct.
- Incorrect (in US): You are my "go to person".
- Incorrect (in US): I was unaware of the difference [between initialisms and acronyms] until I heard it on the NPR program "A Way With Words".
- Incorrect (in US): "Its" is the possessive form of "it", and is rare among possessives...
) and Commas (,) - The UK & Australia Leave logic to the Brits.
In the UK and Australia, they keep punctuation inside the quotation marks only when the punctuation is part of the quotation.
For example:
- Correct (in UK): I was unaware of the difference [between initialisms and acronyms] until I heard it on the NPR program "A Way With Words".
- Correct (in UK): You are my "go to person".
- Correct (in UK): "Its" is the possessive form of "it", and is rare among possessives...
- Incorrect (In UK): E.
g.
stands for "exempli gratia.
" - Incorrect (in UK): As for [the phrase] "graduating college," I'm not sure when it became correct...
For example:
- The eighth letter of the alphabet is "h".
- Name three words that start with an "e", and three that start with a "k".
- The ninth letter of the alphabet is h.
- Name three words that start with an e, and three that start with a k.
If the quoted language is a question or exclamation, include the punctuation inside the quotation marks.
If it's not, don't.
- She asked, "Which way is it to the theater?"
- Did she say, "I absolutely love the theater, darling"?
- I'm so excited to see "In the Heights"!
- I get chills every time I hear King Richard declare,"Off with his head!"
- The following items go in the bin labeled "Paper Recycling": magazines, newspapers, envelopes, and clean cardboard.
- Put magazines, newspapers, and envelopes in the bin labeled "Paper Recycling"; do not put paper towels, tissues, or greasy pizza boxes in there!
Do it the way you think your readers will expect you to do it.
As far as I can tell, you get to choose, unless you are following the rules of a company, in which case follow their protocol.
There are many more subtleties to the use of quotation marks, and if you have questions, please ask.
I'm happy to provide my most educated answer.