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Jazzcat Posted 17 years ago
Grammar

Punctuation within Quotations - Please Help!

I'm having some difficulty knowing exactly where to place the end-sentence punctuation within sentences that require multiple quotations. For example, which is correct:

I love the movie "Beauty and the Beast".

I love the movie "Beauty and the Beast."

Technically the period belongs to the main sentence rather than the quoted section - right? Since "Beauty and the Beast" is a title rather than a remark that naturally requires punctuation, I'm a bit fuzzy on the rules.

Thanks!
Jazzcat
  

Top answer

The only one I pay attention to is the one you quote. The rule I follow says in AmE, the comma and period always go inside the quote. The other marks go inside only if they belong to the thing being quoted.

— Avangi

  • The only one I pay attention to is the one you quote.
  • The rule I follow says in AmE, the comma and period always go inside the quote.
  • The other marks go inside only if they belong to the thing being quoted.
  • Have you seen the movie, "Beauty and the Beast"?
  • " In BrE, the comma and period go outside.
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3 Answers
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The only one I pay attention to is the one you quote. The rule I follow says in AmE, the comma and period always go inside the quote. The other marks go inside only if they belong to the thing being quoted. Have you seen the movie, "Beauty and the Beast"? You should have asked, "Are you ready?"

In BrE, the comma and period go outside.

This is not my are
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Avangi! You're a wonderful help. Thank you so much. I was under the impression that the punctuation marks - commas, question marks, colons, semicolons, and periods - belonged to the statement within quotation marks, and that titles were exempt. I guess I had that right... It looks awkward when typed out, so I had to ask.

Thanks!
Jazzcat
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Jazzcat I love the movie "Beauty and the Beast". This would be correct in BrE.

I love the movie "Beauty and the Beast." This would be correct in AmE, according to the rules I've read. So you can't exactly say in general that titles are exempted.
But this thing about the comma and period always going inside the quotes in AmE o
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