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Victo Posted 13 years ago
Grammar
Rover: Last Query on This
1) When she asked 'Why?', he said, 'I'm not sure.'
(Comma needed after single quote and question mark?)
2) When she screamed 'Stop!', everybody was startled. (Comma needed after single quote and exclamation point?)
3) When he said, 'Please ensure that you bring your tablets to the meeting,' everyone said that they would. (Comma INSIDE with this one?)
4) The questions 'Who?', 'What?', 'When?', 'Where?', 'How?' and 'Why?' need to be answered. (Commas correctly used throughout?)
5) I'm tired of her 'Where are you going?', 'How long will you be out?' and 'How much dud you drink' questions. (Correctly punctuated?)
Thank you.
(Comma needed after single quote and question mark?)
2) When she screamed 'Stop!', everybody was startled. (Comma needed after single quote and exclamation point?)
3) When he said, 'Please ensure that you bring your tablets to the meeting,' everyone said that they would. (Comma INSIDE with this one?)
4) The questions 'Who?', 'What?', 'When?', 'Where?', 'How?' and 'Why?' need to be answered. (Commas correctly used throughout?)
5) I'm tired of her 'Where are you going?', 'How long will you be out?' and 'How much dud you drink' questions. (Correctly punctuated?)
Thank you.
Top answer
These are punctuation problems that are solved differently by different style manuals and publishers. Ask the person to whom you are submitting your text what s/he prefers.
- These are punctuation problems that are solved differently by different style manuals and publishers.
- Ask the person to whom you are submitting your text what s/he prefers.
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6 Answers
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These are punctuation problems that are solved differently by different style manuals and publishers. Ask the person to whom you are submitting your text what s/he prefers.
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It cracks me up that 'definitive' rules do not exist. It appears to be a 'fly-by-the-seat-of-one's-pants' approach.
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victoIt cracks me up that 'definitive' rules do not exist. It appears to be a 'fly-by-the-seat-of-one's-pants' approach.Punctuation is meant to make life easier, not cause problems for us.
While individual style manuals may, as Mr M suggests, give different answers to the questions you have been posting recently, most of us are simply not worried. Th
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Yeah, the BBC and The Guardian used these sentences, so 'outside' it is.
BBC News
"When he said: 'OK, let me beat him up, hit him over the head', I agreed. But that is all that I admit to doing. It's not true that I ordered him to throw acid at Filin."
Guardian Excerpt
When he did, we thought: 'Oh, OK, what happens now?' And then, whe
BBC News
"When he said: 'OK, let me beat him up, hit him over the head', I agreed. But that is all that I admit to doing. It's not true that I ordered him to throw acid at Filin."
Guardian Excerpt
When he did, we thought: 'Oh, OK, what happens now?' And then, whe
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Since you cited BBC and the Guardian, you are probably using British English, so my advice may be of little use.
However, in the U.S. the rules are as follows:
1) Periods and commas always go inside quotation marks
2) Question marks follow the logic of where the question is asked. If the question is asked within quotes the mark goes inside, if the question is asked outside
However, in the U.S. the rules are as follows:
1) Periods and commas always go inside quotation marks
2) Question marks follow the logic of where the question is asked. If the question is asked within quotes the mark goes inside, if the question is asked outside
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