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 That hilarious quotation has some pretty hilarious punctuation.
That hilarious quotation has some pretty hilarious punctuation.
Double quotation marks surround the full quotation, but single quotation marks surround the quotation within the quotation. The inner quotation ends with a comma inside the single quotation marks, and the whole quotation ends in a period inside the double quotation marks.
Hilarious, right?
Yes. It’s both hilarious and right.
When should I use single and double quotation marks?
Well, to start with, figure out whether you are American or British.
Are we laughing yet?
American English uses double quotation marks around words that someone said and places single quotation marks around quotations within quotations.
Yogi Berra was known for verbal gaffes. He said, “A lot of guys go, ‘Hey, Yogi, say a Yogi-ism.’ I tell ’em, ‘I don’t know any.’ ”
British English uses single quotation marks around the words someone said and double around quotations within quotations.
John Cleese once said, ‘The Americans all love “The Holy Grail,” and the English all love “Life of Brian,” and I'm afraid on this one, I side with the English.’
It’s like driving on the left side of the road, but with punctuation—for extra fun.
Do commas and periods go inside quotation marks?
Yes. Commas and periods at the end of quoted material go inside the quotation marks.
Amy Schumer noted, “I really am a chick from Long Island who's just learning along with everyone.”
“I really am a chick from Long Island,” Amy Schumer noted, “who's just learning along with everyone.”
Notice that commas or periods before quoted material remain outside.
Do semicolons and colons go outside quotation marks?
Yes. Semicolons and colons at the end of quoted material go outside quotation marks.
I have a favorite Mitch Hedberg quotation: “I haven't slept for ten days, because that would be too long”; I also like this one: “Rice is great if you're really hungry and want to eat two thousand of something.”
Notice that once again, semicolons and colons before the quotation go outside the quotation marks.
Do question marks and exclamation points go inside or outside?
It depends. They go inside when they belong to the quoted material and outside when they belong to the rest of the sentence.
Did you hear Paula Poundstone say, “The wages of sin are death, but by the time taxes are taken out, it's just sort of a tired feeling”?
Rita Rudner asks herself one question when dating a guy: “Is this the man I want my children to spend their weekends with?”
Note that the end punctuation doesn’t double up. You don’t have .”? or ?”.
What about dashes and ellipses?
Dashes follow the same rules as commas, and ellipses follow the same rules as periods.
“You're only given a little spark of madness—” Robin Williams noted. “You mustn't lose it. . . .”
Note that an ellipsis is three spaced dots ( . . . ). If it comes at the end of the sentence, place a period on the sentence and then the three spaced dots.
Dashes and ellipses can also show breaks or pauses in conversation.
Steve Martin once opined, “A day without sunshine is like—you know—night.”
Steve Martin once opined, “A day without sunshine is like . . . you know . . . night.”
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