Periods with Quotation Marks
The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation
Periods with Quotation Marks
Bart F. recently wrote, “I read your Bluebook rules, but the examples omitted the common usage found when a sentence ends with a quote that completes the thought.”
Bart continued:
Texas, with a history of rugged individualism, was part of the “Sagebrush rebellion”. I was taught that this was the one exception to the quotation mark following the period. Am I right or wrong?
Before I answer his question, let me first ask this: How many of you have been advised of one or all of the following phrases many times, “never say never,” “never say always,” and “there’s an exception to every rule”?
To that I give you our Rule 4 of Quotation Marks: Periods and commas always go inside quotation marks, even inside single quotes. (Emphasis added.)
Really, always? Always. Never place the period outside the quotation marks? Never. Are there no exceptions? No exceptions.
There is one catch: This is the American English rule (this newsletter, The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation, and www.GrammarBook.com represent American English rules). If you follow British English rules, then Bart is correct and you must use logic instead of just following a rule.
Now, try your hand at the pop quiz. Even if you don’t live in the United States, as long as you follow the American English rule, you really should get 100% right on this quiz!
Pop Quiz
Choose the correct sentence.
1A. Texas, with a history of rugged individualism, was part of the “Sagebrush rebellion”.
1B. Texas, with a history of rugged individualism, was part of the “Sagebrush rebellion.”
2A. She said, “Hurry up”.
2B. She said, “Hurry up.”
3A. The sign changed from “Walk”, to “Don’t Walk”, to “Walk” again within 30 seconds.
3B. The sign changed from “Walk,” to “Don’t Walk,” to “Walk” again within 30 seconds.
Pop Quiz Answers
1B. Texas, with a history of rugged individualism, was part of the “Sagebrush rebellion.”
2B. She said, “Hurry up.”
3B. The sign changed from “Walk,” to “Don’t Walk,” to “Walk” again within 30 seconds.
Did you get them all right?
If the article or the existing discussions do not address a thought or question you have on the subject, please use the "Comment" box at the bottom of this page.
“Really, always?” I ask, chuckling.
I am writing an instruction manual for US readers, and must use quotation marks to indicate an exact phrase to be typed. There are many people who would mistakenly type the periods because they are within the quotation marks.
Consider the following example.
Step 1. In the Username field, type “Guest.”
Step 2. In the Password field, type “welcome1.”
Finally, our style guide doesn’t allow us to phrase the instruction as: Step 1. Type “Guest” in the Username field.
What is your recommendation?
Wouldn’t you know that the computer world would present us with a valid exception to our always rule. Some alternatives might be:
Revise your style guide to allow the phrasing you showed that avoids the period within the quotation marks at the end.
If your style guide does not require complete sentences, omit the period: Step 1. In the Username field, type “Guest”
Include a notation prior to the steps that tells the user not to type the periods that immediately precede the ending quotation marks because they are only marking the end of the sentences.
I’ve seen that quotes always enclose sentence punctuation like periods and commas. I have never understood the rationale behind this and it just doesn’t seem right, although “thems da’ rules” applies to this. I’d appreciate an explanation, if there is one that you can find.
We found one, and it seems reasonable, but so do a lot of things that aren’t true. You know the Internet. For what it’s worth, this is the explanation:
There are peculiar typographical reasons why the period and comma go inside the quotation mark in the United States. The following explanation comes from the “Frequently Asked Questions” file of alt.english.usage: “In the days when printing used raised bits of metal, “.” and “,” were the most delicate, and were in danger of damage (the face of the piece of type might break off from the body, or be bent or dented from above) if they had a ‘”‘ on one side and a blank space on the other. Hence the convention arose of always using ‘.”‘ and ‘,”‘ rather than ‘”.’ and ‘”,’, regardless of logic.” This seems to be an argument to return to something more logical, but there is little impetus to do so within the United States.
You are missing an important example — periods or commas interfering with the meaning of the text within quotation marks.
For example:
To print your document, type “PRINT”.
Frequently, a different font or font style can be used to clarify what is to be typed. When the use of quotation marks are required, it is essential for this example that the period be outside the quotation marks.
You have a good point, one that we’ve encountered frequently over the years. However, you will need to take this up with the bozos who established the quotation-marks rule for American English, which states that ALL periods and commas go inside quotation marks without exception.
If you want to break the rule, no one will come to your door and haul you away. We don’t blame you for wanting to do it that way. But we are NOT “missing an important example,” don’t blame this on us! You found an instance of how illogical this no-exceptions rule can sometimes be. There are many others.
By the way, your example has an easy fix:
Type “PRINT” to print your document.
Many articles state there is an exception. The only time we put the commas or periods outside the quotation marks is when the item enclosed in quotation marks is a letter or numeral like “A”, or perhaps “4”. Do you agree?
The rule has no exceptions.
I’m writing to suggest that you consider amending statement 3a for quotation marks (“Periods and commas always go inside quotation marks.”). This is not true when the writer uses the double quote mark to indicate inches.
For example, the punctuation in this sentence would be correct: The width of the support bracket is 3.25″. (Yes, it would have been better written as: The width of the support bracket is 3.25 inches.)
I’m a former English instructor (now engineering instructor)
We certainly see how your English instructor and engineering instructor careers have come together in this question. In your example, we would not consider the inches symbol (“) to be a quotation mark. In our writing, we try our best to differentiate between these marks. For instance, another informal way of writing the sentence could be “The support bracket is 3.25” wide.” Note the difference between the inches symbol and the opening and closing quotation marks. In more formal writing we, along with many editors and the Associated Press Stylebook, recommend writing out “inches” (and “feet”) rather than using the symbols.
I am a court reporter, of 30+ years and I’m still learning new stuff all the time. I got new proofreader who started moving my commas quotation marks around, so I checked three other sites, including Purdue’s before I got to yours where I got my answer. If I read your advice correctly, I’ve been doing it right all along. Phew.
I get this a lot:
Q. Okay. So, in the deposition we need to use words like “yes” or “no,” just because “mm-hm,” hn-nnh,” or nods or shakes of the head are sometimes vague when you read it back, or might not even be put down right. You might not get the answer that you want.
If you are saying that the passage following “Q.” is how you would write it, then yes, you’ve been doing it right
I have a question regarding placing a period outside a quotation mark when there is an exclamation point inside the quotation mark. Is the sentence below correct?
Rachel began her lesson by saying: I say “Are you?” You say “ ready!”.
Thank you!
A period is not added when a quotation already has an ending punctuation mark. Your quotation is an example of a quotation within a quotation. Our blog Quotations Within Quotations explains how to punctuate these sentences properly.
Rachel began her lesson by saying, “I say ‘are you?’ You say ‘ready!’ “
My co-worker and I cannot understand why an ending quotation mark is outside the period when the only quoted portion of the sentence is the last word(s).
Example: It’s an oil-extraction method known as “fracking.”
Wouldn’t it make more sense to say “fracking”. since that’s the only quoted portion of the sentence?
What do you think?
Sorry, but this isn’t about making sense; it’s about American English rules. In American English, periods and commas go inside the quotation marks. We’ve given up trying to make sense; we just do it that way. If you lived in Great Britain or in another Commonwealth country, then you would place the period outside the quotation mark in the example you cited.
Where would the comma be in the following sentences? Thank you for your help.
2.2 Surface finish and weld preparation shall be in accordance with NACE, SP0178-2007, Appendix “C”, NACE Weld Preparation Designation “C”, ground smooth, free of all defects, or “A”, ground flush and smooth, free of all defects.
NOTE: If Designation “C” is used, the high point on the weld must not project above the adjoining metal plate surfaces more than 1/8″ (3 mm).
2.3 The transition between the ground weld and the adjacent plate surfaces must be smoothly contoured as shown in NACE, SP0178-2007, Appendix “C”.
In American English, commas and periods always go inside the quotation marks.
If I am writing a sentence such as “He is an idiot,” she thought, do I use quotation marks to denote a thought as well as a statement?
Our post Internal Dialogue: Italics or Quotes? explains that you can use either quotation marks or italics for a thought.
I have a question about if a commas should or shouldn’t be used in this sentence before the quotation marks and why or why not should they or shouldn’t they be used?
Invite everyone to raise their arms in praise every time they shout “He has risen indeed!” and wave their arms back and forth as they shout “ALLELUIA!”
Our Rule 3c. of Quotation Marks says, “If a quotation functions as a subject or object in a sentence, it might not need a comma.” Since your quotations function as objects, and since they are not direct quotations of words previously spoken, commas are not necessary.
Which of the following are correct structure: “….had become known as “The Enterprise,” and many people chose…” Or – “…had become known as “The Enterprise”, and many people chose…” The placing of the comma with a scare-type quote,
As stated in this post, “Periods and commas ALWAYS go inside quotation marks.”
I have a small dilemma. This is my text:
Tracks 2 and 4 are from the album entitled “Going Public.” The correct title of track 4 is “Elle G.”
Track 6 is from the album “Not Ashamed.” The correct title of track 6 is “I’m Not Ashamed.”
In the first sentence, the name of the song is “Elle G.” with a period after the “G.” What do I do to make it clear in the sentence that the period is part of the title and not the ending of the sentence? Another period outside of the quotes is ridiculously incorrect, right?
In cases where necessary punctuation appears at the end of the sentence and creates a conflict with proper concluding punctation, a possible resolution is to rearrange the sentence:
“Elle G.” is the correct title of track 4.
If there is any reason why the song title must remain at the end of the sentence, you would probably want to add a parenthetical explanation:
The correct title of track 4 is “Elle G.” (The period is part of the title.)
I am writing a short story, and I need help with a rule based on period or comma usage. The period in question is after the word “heart”:
“I found the object with message attached from someone called John.” The messenger returned. (Is “returned” here an attribution? “…from someone called John,” the messenger returned.)
“And what did the message proclaim?” The messenger thought for a moment. What did it say? Something about… (Seems like this should be a separate line.)
” ‘The king was betrayed—stabbed through the heart.’ ” He shuddered at the note.
My question is whether or not it should be a comma with the word “he” lowercased, if it should be a period with the sentence starting with “he” on the next line, or if it should stay the same.
I know the general rule of thumb is that it should be a comma with the first word following the end quotes lowercased. The way I see it (and I have never been taught this nor taught not to do this) is if that rule (the general rule of thumb I mentioned) is only for a direct correspondence with the quote before it (where the following sentence is describing what the person did while saying the quote) and/or how he said it (for example “he said” or “he mumbled”), while the sentence following the quotation is a separate statement describing what he did after the quote. My quote is the latter of the two, where it is separate and describing what he did after the quote.
In the case of my quote, he is shuddering at what the note says, not relating to his own speech directly; therefore, it is a separate statement. (Though I would also like to know the answer to if he was relating to his own speech directly also).
Given the sentence after the quote is a separate statement, am I right to leave it as is, should I move the sentence down to a new line, or should it be a comma, end quote, then a lower cased “he”?
Thanks in advance.
Using a period after the quote and writing “He shuddered at the note” as a separate sentence is fine in describing an action apart from the quoted statement.
If you meant to make the statement attributive to the quoted text, you could write it as:
“…stabbed through the heart,’ ” he said, shuddering (or shuddering at the note).
For more information, you can refer to our Rules for Commas and Rules for Quotation Marks.
The apostle Peter says: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” (I Pet. 1:3)
Is the period inside the quotation mark correct, and do I add another period after the parenthetical reference?
Your quotation is correct as written.