Where is the correct place to put a full stop when quoting?

FunkyT

FunkyT

FunkyT

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Which of these is correct?

Michael Jones said that there were "300,000 coffee drinkers in Poole".

or

Michael Jones said that there were "300,000 coffee drinkers in Poole."

(please note the position of the full stops) :p
 
Surely it's after as you are making a direct quote, therefore everything within the speech marks should be exactly as it was in the original source and all punction relating to writer's sentence should be afterward.
 
It depends on the quote and style-preference. Generally the accepted British style is to include the punctuation within the quotation marks if it forms part of the quote, outside if not.

EDIT: There should be commas in the below examples, but I've left them out since I've been repeatedly quoted below.

i.e. British English: Fred said “Have I told you about the washing machine?”.
American English: Fred said “Have I told you about the washing machine?”

(Following point emboldened for emphasis).
 
Last edited:
nige said:
It depends on the quote and style-preference. Generally the accepted British style is to include the punctuation within the quotation marks if it forms part of the quote, outside if not.

i.e. British English: Fred said “Have I told you about the washing machine?”.
American English: Fred said “Have I told you about the washing machine?”

(Following point emboldened for emphasis).
Click to expand...

In your example, the question mark forms the end of a sentence anyway, so it looks ok to have the question mark int he quote followed by the fullstop outside.
 
nige said:
i.e. British English: Fred said “Have I told you about the washing machine?”.
Click to expand...

This is an example of the way i see it, as the sentence is being ended after the quote, and all punction relating to the source (Fred) is within the quote.
 
Inside equals to the American practice. If you want to write British English, you're wrongly informed.

You're supposed to use single quotation marks, reserving the double quotation for quotes within quotes. As so;

'I want to be a Vagina', said Paul.
'A Vagina?', responds his mother.
'Yes, I read about it in "Mangina Magazine"'.

Full-stops, commas, question marks etc, only go inside the quotation marks when they are a direct quote; from the sentence of a newspaper, for example. Or, as in my nice example, a direct quote of speech.

Quotations more than two sentences in length should be indented and not have any quotation marks. Reserving single quotation marks for any quotes within the indented quote.
 
OvertoneBliss said:
'I want to be a Vagina', said Paul.
'A Vagina?', responds his mother.
'Yes, I read about it in "Mangina Magazine"'.
Click to expand...
:eek: Coffee...all over screen....and desk! :D:D
 
Just realised I missed a comma from both of my examples, whoops!

As to single/double quotation, Wikipedia (which I checked with before opening my virtual gob re; grammar) claims that
Quoting: Americans start with double quotation marks (") and use single quotation marks (') for quotations within quotations. In general this is also true of BrE, but can be the opposite when used in book publishing, for example. In journals and newspapers, quotation mark double/single use depends on the individual publication's house style.
Click to expand...
(emphasis added)

Aside from that and my comma-error, my examples are in line with what OvertoneBliss has posted.
 
OvertoneBliss said:
Inside equals to the American practice. If you want to write British English, you're wrongly informed.

You're supposed to use single quotation marks, reserving the double quotation for quotes within quotes. As so;

'I want to be a Vagina', said Paul.
'A Vagina?', responds his mother.
'Yes, I read about it in "Mangina Magazine"'.

Full-stops, commas, question marks etc, only go inside the quotation marks when they are a direct quote; from the sentence of a newspaper, for example. Or, as in my nice example, a direct quote of speech.

Quotations more than two sentences in length should be indented and not have any quotation marks. Reserving single quotation marks for any quotes within the indented quote.
Click to expand...
Yes, but if you use an apostraphe within the sentnce it gets confusing. Hence the American standard of using double quotes is preferred.

Full stops inside of quotes in the OP's example look neater, which is why that's what I'd use :)
 
Hey, I'm just trying to be two things; British and correct. I don't actually follow those rules myself, I just know them. :o

I prefer the neat and tidy method over the correct method. Especially since it doesn't matter. Unless of course, I be sitting an exam.
 
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