grammar

Question

she says to me,''my mother ground coffee daily''

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

She says to me,''My mother ground coffee daily.''

AlpheccaStars · Answer

She says to me, ''My mother ground coffee daily.''

Fivejedjon · Answer

I, a speaker of BrE, would put the full stop (period) outside the final quotation marks.

CalifJim · Answer

fivejedjonI, a speaker of BrE, would put the full stop (period) outside the final quotation marks.

As an American, I would too. It's the one thing about American punctuation whose logic I cannot fathom.

CJ

Fivejedjon · Answer

There's no logic in any system, Compare the sentences below (my system). I don't use a comma before the first quotation mark, but many people do.

1. He said "I would like a cup of coffee".
2. Did he say "I would like a cup of coffee"?

I put the full stop and the question mark outside the quotation marks because they are part of the whole sentence, not part of the sentence quoted - that can manage without final punctuation. To be completely logical, I'd have to write:

1a. He said "I would like a cup of coffee.".
2a. Did he say "I would like a cup of coffee."?

That final .". in 1a is too much for me, as is the final ."? in 2a. However, this leads to inconsistency:

3. He said "I would like a cup of coffee. I think I'll go and make one".

In 3, the first quoted sentence has a full stop, but the second hasn't.

With the next two, I feel obliged to use the extra punctuation:

4. He said "Would you like a cup of coffee?".
5. Did he say "Would you like a cup of coffee?"?

I haven't yet found a system that is completely logical and does not look ugly in some sentences.

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