|
Using
Quotation Marks With Other Forms of Punctuation
Use a comma
or colon to introduce a quotation. (Use a colon when you precede the
quotation with a complete sentence.) Notice that ending punctuation goes
inside the final quotation mark:
Sue said,
"Let's go shopping after school."
Bob responded immediately: "Of course I didn't steal it!"
No punctuation is necessary if you quote a word or phrase that fits
grammatically into your own sentence:
The
president said that the talks had been "encouraging."
Macbeth yelled at his servant for being a "cream-faced loon."
Use a
comma (inside the quotation mark) to mark the end of a quoted sentence that
is followed by an identifying tag:
"It's time
to eat," said John.
"I'm leaving tomorrow," said Nancy. "We can clean up when I get back."
Do not use a comma if the quoted sentence ends in a question mark or
exclamation point:
"What's
the evidence?" the scientist asked.
"Get out!" he screamed.
Use a
pair of commas to set off a tag that interrupts a quoted sentence:
"Ideas,"
writes Carl Jung, "spring from something greater than the personal human
being. "
Colons
and semicolons go outside the quotation mark:
The
senator announced, "I will not seek reelection"; then he left the pressroom.
When using a quotation mark or exclamation point at the end of a quotation,
put it inside the closing quotation mark only if it is part of the
quotation; otherwise, put it outside the closing quotation mark:
I can't
believe that the senator dismissed the charge as "unimportant"!
Patrick Henry demanded, "Give me liberty, or give me death!"
Who wrote, "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet"?
Who wrote, "What's in a name?"
Writing Center
Home |
Online Writing Center