Writing Tips

Placement of Punctuation and Quotation Marks

The Americans and the British exhibit distinct styles for using quotation marks. In the American style, double quotation marks enclose quotations, and single quotation marks enclose quotations within quotations. The British practice is to use single quotation marks to enclose quotations, and double quotation marks to enclose a quotation within another quotation.

In the American style, periods and commas are always placed inside the quotation marks, for typographical reasons. In the British style, periods and commas are placed inside the quotation marks only when they are part of the quoted material, which is the more logical placement.

The Canadian style for quotation marks usually follows the American style for appearance and placement of periods and commas. Some Canadian publishers, however, use the British style. Others employ a combination of the two styles.

At NIVA, we recommend always using the American style of double quotation marks followed by single quotation marks. In a literary work, we recommend the American style of always placing periods and commas inside the quotation marks. In a technical or legal work, where accuracy is essential, we recommend the British practice of placing periods and commas within quotation marks only when they are part of the quoted material.

Here are a few more rules for punctuating quoted material. Unless otherwise noted, the examples show our recommended literary style, which is the same as the American style.

A direct quotation is set off from the rest of the sentence by commas. Do not use a period to end a sentence quoted within another sentence.

• Bill said, "I just got back from my trip, and I had a good time."
• "I just got back from my trip, and I had a good time," said Bill.
• "I just got back from my trip," said Bill, "and I had a good time."

The following example contrasts the American style, the British style, and our recommended literary and technical styles using a partial quote from the above example. Note that in the British and technical style, it is clear that we did not quote the entire sentence.

• American: Bill said, "I just got back."
• British: Bill said, 'I just got back'.
• NIVA Literary: Bill said, "I just got back."
• NIVA Technical: Bill said, "I just got back".

You will often find that in technical writing the American style can cause confusion.

• American: Give the file the extension ".TXT."
• British: Give the file the extension '.TXT'.
• NIVA Literary: Give the file the extension ".TXT."
• NIVA Technical: Give the file the extension ".TXT".

The comma is used and the quote is capitalized even when the quotation marks are absent.

• Alice thought, Will I see him again?

A comma is also used after a dash to set off a quotation from the rest of the sentence.

• "I don't think that she—," he began to say.

If the quotation is used as a part of speech (subject, predicate nominative, restrictive appositive, etc.) it is not set off by commas.

• "In a minute" was his standard reply.
• Ellen was reminded of the saying "To each his own."

If single quotation marks are used to signify a special term, the period is placed outside the quotation marks.

• Doug was not familiar with the word 'apposition'.

When a statement ends in a quotation that is an exclamation or question, a question mark or exclamation mark is placed inside the quotation marks, and a period is not used. When a question or exclamation includes a quoted question or exclamation, the punctuation of the quotation is dropped, and the appropriate punctuation for the sentence appears outside of the quotation marks.

• He asked, "Will you be leaving soon?"
• He shouted, "Never!"
• Did he say "I am late"?
• I can't believe he whispered "I am afraid"!
• Did he ask "Will you be leaving soon"?
• Did he shout "Never"?
• I can't believe he asked "Will you be leaving soon"!

A colon or semicolon is always placed outside quotation marks. When the enclosed material ends in a colon, the colon is omitted.

• Three themes can be found in "Morgan's Dilemma": hope, courage, and heroism.