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/lit/ - Literature

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1837584 No.1837584 [Reply] [Original]

Hey /lit/. I typically don't come on here, but I have a question that I figured you'd be able to answer.

If you're using quotes at the end of a sentence, do you put the period outside the quotes or inside? Does it depend on how you're using the quotes?

I'm more of a math guy, so I've never been the best at this sort of thing.

>> No.1837585

Put a comma in the quotes an nothin else i think

>> No.1837589
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1837589

Only posting to show this awesome coincidence.

And I put the full stop inside the quotation marks, unless that quote doesn't end in a full stop, in which case if I want to end my sentence I put the full stop outside the quote marks and if I don't I just carry on writing.

>> No.1837590

i've just finished my degree in english lit and even i'm still wondering about this

>> No.1838125

>>1837584

I was always taught to put it inside.

"This is correct."
"This looks wrong".

>> No.1838133

no you fuckers. if the punctuation is part of what you're quoting then you put it inside, otherwise outside. i will admit that current style goes either way (i think there may be a europe/america divide on this one), but the other way is stupid. think about it.

>> No.1838147

I was taught to put periods and commas inside parentheses. However, I really don't agree with this, and prefer what I understand to be a more British set of rules: put the comma or period inside the quote when that punctuation mark "belongs" to what you're quoting.

"Like this?" he asked. "Yes", I responded, "like that."

I found this article to be pretty convincing.

http://www.slate.com/id/2293056/pagenum/all/

>> No.1838153

To be grammatically correct, inside, as in:

"Hello," he said, looking at his book on grammar, "I am checking my book on grammar."

In fiction you can do whatever the fuck you want, and I think it makes more sense to have it on the outside (unless it's pure dialogue) as in:

"This here," he said, brandishing his pen, "is how I prefer to write dialogue".
"Fuck off. That's Shit."
"Well maybe," I said. "But maybe not."

>> No.1838158

>>1838153
> "This here," he said, brandishing his pen, "is how I prefer to write dialogue".
That's really inconsistent, isn't it? You've included a comma (after "here") that's not part of the quote, but left the period (after "dialogue") outside, even though it should actually conclude the speaker's sentence (and your own).

>> No.1838172

>>1837584

That cat is spectacular.

>> No.1838179

If the quoted line ends the sentence, the period goes inside the quotation marks. If you are quoting a question, question marks go inside the quotation marks. If the quote ends a sentence that is a question, but is not a question itself, put a question mark outside the quotation marks.

Never use exclamation points.

>> No.1838189

>>1838179
But if your sentence ends with a quote which does not itself end with a period (i.e., the quoted material is a phrase or word, not a sentence), I would argue the logical approach would be to leave the period outside the quotes. Thus:

Gardner's own work often fails to be that which he refers to as "moral fiction".
There is no better known opening line than that which begins, "It was the best of times".

>> No.1838190

>>1838158

Maybe, But it's my preferred style. Capture one thought/line of dialogue in a period. The comma after the first section before the identifying clause serves, I think, to show a pause in content.

>> No.1838211

If you are an American, you need to keep your commas and periods inside your closing quotation marks, where they belong.

It seems to be the result of historical accident. When type was handset, a period or comma outside of quotation marks at the end of a sentence tended to get knocked out of position, so the printers tucked the little devils inside the quotation marks to keep them safe and out of trouble. But apparently only American printers were more attached to convenience than logic, since British printers continued to risk the misalignment of their periods and commas.