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Chivalry Posted 14 years ago
Grammar
A little question about this simple sentence
"The only access to the building is through this gate."
Why isn't it simply "the only access to the building is THIS GATE"?
Another tiny question about punctuation here,
should I include the period/any ending punctuation in the sentence when I'm quoting it?
Why isn't it simply "the only access to the building is THIS GATE"?
Another tiny question about punctuation here,
should I include the period/any ending punctuation in the sentence when I'm quoting it?
Top answer
-- It can be either. ' supersedes the period.
- -- It can be either.
- ' supersedes the period.
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7 Answers
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"The only access to the building is through this gate." Why isn't it simply "the only access to the building is THIS GATE"?-- It can be either.
Another tiny question about punctuation here, should I include the period/any ending punctuation in the sentence when I'm quoting it?-- It depends on the other punctuation; here, the '?' supersedes the period.
Another tiny question about punctuation here, should I include the period/any ending punctuation in the sentence when I'm quoting it?-- It depends on the other punctuation; here, the '?' supersedes the period.
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Mister Micawber"The only access to the building is through this gate." Why isn't it simply "the only access to the building is THIS GATE"?-- It can be either.Another tiny question about punctuation here, should I include the period/any ending punctuation in the sentence when I'm quoting it?-- It depends on the other punctuation; here, the '?' supersedes the period.
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So what other punctuation/s supersede/s a period in the quoted sentence beside a question mark? -- Exclamation points and interrobangs.
And does this logic only apply to the sentences with a quoted context placed at the END of the sentence? What if the sentence is supposed to be followed by a comma in this case? Will I still need to keep the period in the quotation?-- To be
And does this logic only apply to the sentences with a quoted context placed at the END of the sentence? What if the sentence is supposed to be followed by a comma in this case? Will I still need to keep the period in the quotation?-- To be
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Mister MicawberSo what other punctuation/s supersede/s a period in the quoted sentence beside a question mark? -- Exclamation points and interrobangs.And does this logic only apply to the sentences with a quoted context placed at the END of the sentence? What if the sentence is supposed to be followed by a comma in this case? Will I still need to keep the period in the qu
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No, this way:
"Quotation?" rest of the sentence.
"Exclamation!" rest of the sentence.
"Statement," rest of sentence.
Frankly, I think the guidelines vary among style manuals.
"Quotation?" rest of the sentence.
"Exclamation!" rest of the sentence.
"Statement," rest of sentence.
Frankly, I think the guidelines vary among style manuals.
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Mister MicawberSo what other punctuation/s supersede/s a period in the quoted sentence beside a question mark? -- Exclamation points and interrobangs.And does this logic only apply to the sentences with a quoted context placed at the END of the sentence? What if the sentence is supposed to be followed by a comma in this case? Will I still need to keep the period in the qu
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Good question. First, I don't think you'll find them on a keyboard, so you can't type them. Second, we seldom use even exclamation points in formal writing, so interrobangs are liable to remain informal anyway. Third, I place them on about the same level as "s/he" (also 'made up by some people') as the epicene pronoun, so—it's up to you if you want to throw one into a text and see what happens!
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