Punctuation

[Marla Sharp]

Punctuation

NEWSLETTERS:
http://data.grammarbook.com/blog/
https://app.e2ma.net/app/view:Join/signupId:18667

SITES:
http://www.grammarbook.com/
http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/
http://www.webgrammar.com/
http://www.northeastern.edu/toolkit/messaging/style9.html#9.10
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/

COMMAS:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/g_comma.html
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/commas.htm
http://www.uottawa.ca/academic/arts/writcent/hypergrammar/comma.html

NUMBERS:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/esl/eslnumber.html
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpedit/handbook/numberdate.html
http://www.grammarbook.com/numbers/numbers.asp

QUOTATION MARKS:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/g_quote.html
http://www.uottawa.ca/academic/arts/writcent/hypergrammar/qmarks.html

SEMICOLONS:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/g_commacomp.html
http://englishplus.com/grammar/00000094.htm

[Marla Sharp]

Below is a recent newsletter from "The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation."
http://www.grammarbook.com/default.asp

Quotations within Quotations
Almost all of us have found ourselves confused with double and single quotation marks. When do we use single quotes? Where does the punctuation go with single quotes? With just a few rules and examples, you will feel surer about your decisions.

Rule: Use single quotation marks inside double quotation marks when you have a quotation within a quotation.

Example: Bobbi said, “Delia said, ‘This will never work.’”

Notice that what Delia said was enclosed in single quotes. Notice also that the period was placed inside both the single and the double quotation marks. The American rule is that periods always go inside all quotation marks.

Example: Bobbi said, “I read the article, ‘A Poor Woman’s Journey.’”

Rule: Question marks and exclamation marks, unlike periods, follow logic with their placement. If a quote inside a quote is a question or exclamation, place the question mark or exclamation mark inside the single quotes.

Example: Bobbi said, “Delia asked, ‘Will this remote control work on my TV?’”
Example: Bobbi said, “Delia shouted, ‘Get your hands off me!’”

Rule: If the question is inside the double quotes, place the question mark between the single and double quotes.

(Because you will rarely need an exclamation mark within the double quotes and not within the single quotes, there is little sense discussing this.)

Example: Bobbi asked, “Did Delia say, ‘This will never work’?”

Rule: In the above three examples, only one ending punctuation mark was used with the quotation marks. The rule is that the “stronger” mark wins. Question marks and exclamation marks are considered stronger than the period. Period!