Comma Inside Or Outside Quotes Legal Writing

The final period or comma goes inside the quotation marks even if it is not a part of the quoted material unless the quotation is followed by a citation.

Comma inside or outside quotes legal writing. This is the traditional american style. Place other punctuation inside quotation marks when that punctuation is part of what is being quoted such as a quoted question. The mla handbook notes by convention commas and periods that directly follow quotations go inside the closing quotation marks 88. If a citation in parentheses follows the quotation the period follows the citation.

As you might guess from our name apa style uses american style punctuation see p. Place commas or periods inside the quotation marks but place all other punctuation outside the quotation marks unless such punctuation is part of the quoted text. If a superscript footnote number is used it follows the period and the quotation marks. The rule is the same for a list of titles.

He said i may forget your name but i never forget a face history is stained with blood spilled in the name of civilization mullen criticizing the apparent inaction writes donahues policy was to do nothing 24. Youve got to be carefully taught wrote oscar hammerstein ii. Commas and periods go inside quotes. Publication manual as do several other major style guides such as ap chicago and mlathe table below elaborates with examples for each punctuation mark.

Always place periods and commas inside the closing quotation mark including any nested ones. I see it wrong about 30 of the time. If a question is part of the quotation the. Colons semicolons and dashes remain outside quotation marks.

Thus in the following sentence the comma is placed after taught. And what if you have nested quotations. Enclose all quotations with quotation marks. But there are many.

92 of the 6th ed. In american english all commas and periods go inside the quotation marks. In british english the style is generally to place periods and commas outside the quotation marks. Quotation marks are used incorrectly in so much legaland non legalwriting that its an epidemic.

Mary described the game as a real grudge match. Usage guideline for quotations periods and commas go inside quotation marks including single quotation marks. Put commas and periods within quotation marks except when a parenthetical reference follows.