Quotes Inside Quotes Punctuation

Colons and semicolons are placed outside quotations while question marks and exclamation marks follow the logic of the sentence.

Quotes inside quotes punctuation. The british convention is the opposite. In the uk the tendency is to place them outside. Lulu says as a strong opponent of piercing i am sorry to tell you that lola told me i m thinking of piercing my tongue. The main quote would use single quotation marks and the quote within the quote would use double quotation marks.

The placement of question marks with quotation marks follows logic. American style uses double quotes for initial quotations then single quotes for quotations within the initial quotation. Question marks can vary depending if the question is part of the quote then the punctuation mark goes inside the quotation marks. In british english you start with single quotation marks and then double quotation marks.

Bobbi said delia asked will this remote control work on my tv bobbi said delia shouted get your hands off me. Thus a british book might punctuate lulu s comment in this way. The following are rules for punctuating inside closing quotation marks according to the standard american style guides. Is part of the quotation.

The quote within the quote do unto others as you would have them do unto you is enclosed in single quotation marks. She asked will you still be my friend the question will you still be my friend. The main quote is enclosed in double quotation marks. The british frequently use single quotation marks when they re quoting and double marks for a quotation inside another quotation.

Do you agree with the saying all s fair in love and war. When you put a quote inside a quote you alternate between double and single quotation marks. Commas and periods directly following quotations always go inside closing quotation marks. If a question is within the quoted material a question mark should be placed inside the quotation marks.

When the material being quoted contains a quotation within a quotation i e something in single quotation marks use double quotation marks. If a quote inside a quote is a question or exclamation place the question mark or exclamation point inside the single quotation marks. When a run in quotation contains quotation marks within the quoted material itself use single quotation marks in their place.