Question on grammar

[Haloman800]

If you're quoting somebody, do you put the period before or after the quotation mark, or do you put one on each side?

For instance;

John told me "It's going to rain today".

^^In that instance, the quote is at the end of my sentence, and the quote ends with a period. So, would I put a period at the end of his sentence ( "It's going to rain today." ), after the quotation (example above), or both ( "It's going to rain today.". ), since technically it's the end of my sentence as well, and therefore should end in a period.


Pretty pointless, but it's been bugging me for a while xD.

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

It should go before the quotation mark, example: "HERP A DERP LERP. I LIKE TO SLERP."

Unless it's just a letter or number, then it would be:
"What'd you get on your final?"
"A".

EDIT: And as Foxi reminded me, it would go after if it's a sentence like:
"BLAH BLAH BLAH", Said Dorthy, "I AM A DUMB DIKE."

 

[Haloman800]

Hmm I was leaning towards that as well, and then I found this discussion: http://forum.thefreedictionary.com/postst5470_Periods-and-quotation-marks-at-the-end-of-a-sentence--has-the-rule-changed-.aspx ..

Does anyone else have an opinion on where it should go?

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

That's not an opinion, it was a fact. This is what is taught in all schools in the US.

 

[Foxi4]

This is something that always confuses me as well (not sure why), but as far as I know, any periods between quotation marks are really only used when quoting more than one sentence. In every other case, you end the whole sentence with a period. e.g:

"That's how quotes should look like", said Dorothy.

Read up on Reported Speech to learn more.

That's not an opinion, it was a fact. This is what is taught in all schools in the US.

It's not a fact, unless that's how it's done in the U.S. In standard English grammar it's the exact opposite.

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

This is something that always confuses me as well (not sure why), but as far as I know, any periods between quotation marks are really only used when quoting more than one sentence. In every other case, you end the whole sentence with a period. e.g:

"That's how quotes should look like", said Dorothy.

Read up on Reported Speech to learn more.

That's not an opinion, it was a fact. This is what is taught in all schools in the US.

It's not a fact, unless that's how it's done in the U.S. In standard English grammar it's the exact opposite.

Well I forgot to add the part you mentioned, but in every other case what I posted was the "rules"

 

[Deleted member 158512]

This is something that always confuses me as well (not sure why), but as far as I know, any periods between quotation marks are really only used when quoting more than one sentence. In every other case, you end the whole sentence with a period. e.g:

"That's how quotes should look like", said Dorothy.

Read up on Reported Speech to learn more.

That's not an opinion, it was a fact. This is what is taught in all schools in the US.

It's not a fact, unless that's how it's done in the U.S. In standard English grammar it's the exact opposite.

That is how it is done in the US... under certain rule-sets. In real life, unless your school or organization advocates one writing style over another, the only rule is to be consistent (and no, that doesn't mean you can be an ass and put punctuation wherever you want, it just means you need don't need to be nitpicky about something like comma placement, so long as you always put it in the same place).

 

[ProtoKun7]

It depends on where you're from. Personally, I choose only to include punctuation within the quotation marks if it's present within the original context.

 

[Depravo]

John told me "It's going to rain today".

That sentence doesn't even need quotation marks.

 

[Hells Malice]

Well I forgot to add the part you mentioned, but in every other case what I posted was the "rules"

Relevant.

John told me "It's going to rain today".

That sentence doesn't even need quotation marks.

Damn lol. I was gonna point this out.

Grammar rules are fun. They vary...quite a bit. I always put punctuation on the outside of the quotes when I quote speech. Dunno why, I just think it looks better.
Luckily this is the internet so no one circles it in red and puts an x beside it when I do it >_>

 

[injected11]

Grammar rules are fun. They vary...quite a bit. I always put punctuation on the outside of the quotes when I quote speech. Dunno why, I just think it looks better.
Luckily this is the internet so no one circles it in red and puts an x beside it when I do it( ) X >_>

Lacks proper punctuation. -5 points.