Reading the Bible in 1 Year

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Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Tip for Tuesday - Writing Related - Thanks to John Potter

Quotation Marks and Punctuation: Commas and periods always go inside the closing quotation mark in Standard American English form. All other forms of punctuation not actually part of the quoted material go outside the closing quotation mark.

For Example:

I found the passage, "Always do right!"
Please review Exhibit "A."
I don't agree with "computers are useless"; however, this could be the case.
"Witty," "clever," "amusing," and "hilarious" are her favorite adjectives.

9 comments:

Susan R. Mills said...

Thanks for the tips. I always struggle with the one where the punctuation goes outside of the quotation marks. I catch myself making a mistake there quite often.

Anita said...

I get this, but I sometimes have trouble knowing what I'm supposed to do with punctuation in and around () when they're at the end of a sentence. Like if I'm trying to act cool and put a question inside () at the end of sentence.

Susan Berlien said...

My Dad is a stickler for punctuation. he'll often e-mail me after a post and tell me all the errors I made. I'm getting beter. It just takes practice. Thanks for the reminders. :)

Anonymous said...

An important rule to follow!

Kelly Polark said...

I've had to look this rule up in the last few months!!
Good tip!

Alice in Wonderland said...

Just called over from Speaking From The Crib, to say a big "Hi!" to everyone!
I find this subject really interesting! I'm a bit of a stickler for punctuation too, and I find myself mentally correcting peoples' writing! I'm English, and I'm fascinated by the way other people write.
This post is really good, I'll keep on visiting!

MG Higgins said...

Great tips. It's the exception where quotes go inside the punctuation that trip me up--like your example with the semi-colon.

Hit 40 said...

Giving bloggers writing advice!!!!!!!!! Your funny

Stephanie Faris said...

I see it done incorrectly all the time. I think I just have it tattooed on my brain after all those years of reading obsessively!