But I Can’t Keep My Mouth Shut Any Longer
This piece is also on Medium
Something is very wrong with the punctuation used in the sentence below. I’ve seen many errors like this one on Medium and elsewhere on line:
It often sounds like “good vibes only” or “just be positive”.
The source of this quote isn’t important. I’m not here to shame the writer whose country of origin is not apparent, but I suspect the U. S. Perhaps he or she is British and learned different rules of punctuation and spelling.
But listen up, American writers, who either ignore or don’t know how to punctuate quotations. I’m yelling at you…
Periods and commas ALWAYS go INSIDE quotation marks.
I would imagine that Grammarly catches and corrects such mistakes, but I’m not sure. (If you know, please leave a comment; I’m curious.)
Regardless, there’s no excuse for not knowing. You can find this information online if you Google “rules of comma inside quotation,” as I just did.
Among the possibilities, these will turn up:
- How To Use Quotation Marks In A Sentence | Thesaurus.com
- Why do periods and commas go inside quotation marks in MLA…
- Does Punctuation Go Inside Quotation Marks?
But if you don’t want to bother, here’s all you need to know:
Place a period [.] or a comma [,] INSIDE the quotation marks:
Melinda finally said, “I can’t take this.”
“So write about it,” her friend responded.
Place a semicolon [;] or a colon [:] OUTSIDE the quoted material.
Melinda calls herself “a journalist”; not all writers can make that claim.
She can’t be “an editor”: poor punctuation stresses her out.
Place a question mark [?] or an exclamation point [!] INSIDE the quotation mark IF either punctuation mark belongs with the quote.
Melinda asked, “Do you think other writers will be insulted by this piece?”
She looked in the mirror and yelled, “I don’t care!”
Place a question mark [?] or an exclamation point [!] OUTSIDE the quotation mark if the punctuation is NOT part of the quote.
Who wrote “punctuation is not my problem”?
To write a post like this, Melinda must be a “language nerd”!
Mel. I LOVED THIS!
Thanks. You would!
I’m not a writer but I’m still afraid to comment.
I’ve forgotten my long ago learned
punctuation rules and I’m too lazy to always Google.
That said I always enjoy reading what you write.
Please, never be afraid to comment. Many writers — and probably some teachers — don’t know these rules (but THEY should bother to Google). And if you like, you can ask me!
So few people speak or write correctly ! Thanks for the mini lessons !
My pleasure. It’s too bad — and Internet writing hasn’t helped!