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"I live in Munich", says Carlos

or

"I live in Munich," says Carlos

Which of these 2 punctuations is correct ?

Harry
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2 Answers2

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You've stumbled onto an interesting feature of the English language. Generally, in British English, whether it goes inside or outside the quotation marks depends on the usage in the sentence (I.E., if the comma's part of the quote, include it in the quotation marks; otherwise, place it outside of them), while, most standards for American English ignore what the quotation actually says and dictates that the comma always go inside the marks.

As such, both are correct, depending on where you are. Personally, despite being American, I prefer the British version. Check with your professor to see if they're fine with both ways before trying something against the local norm, though, if you're writing for a class.

David McKnight
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  • The snag is that 'British English' and 'American English', though fairly common terms, are ill-defined and misnomers. I avoid them because of this, and because of the unwarranted pressure to conform (when in Rome ...). – Edwin Ashworth Mar 08 '16 at 11:33
  • True. I may consider editing my answer to reflect this. @Edwin Ashworth Is that better? – David McKnight Mar 08 '16 at 11:34
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I disagree wiht David McKnight, because it's not a simple matter of language but of typographical code.

  • "I live in Munich", says Carlos is the correct form, as Carlos has nothing to do with the previous comma which is not in his phrase.

However, we may find a comma within the quotation marks - as said D. McK. - if Carlos has more to say like in :

  • "I live in Munich," says Carlos before shouting : "And I hate it !". Here the comma is within the quote as the commentator is interrupting the Mexican guy who doesn't like the main town in Bavaria.
DAVE
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  • I think you'll find that is precisely how I described the British English standard for the comma. However, in American English, the comma always goes inside the quotation marks. The sole exception to this is when using in-text citations, in which case the punctuation goes after the citation, depending on the style. https://www.tjhsst.edu/~rpgreen/grammar/quotes.htm https://wmich.edu/writing/punctuation/quotationmarks At least, this is how I was taught at both a high school in St. Louis and a university in Oklahoma. I suppose it's possible there are standards I'm unaware of. – David McKnight Mar 08 '16 at 11:18
  • It's a matter of punctuation conventions, and, as such, cannot be correctly answered by the pronouncing of a logical-sounding 'rule'. Logically, ' "I live in Munich."[,] says Carlos.' might be considered correct, as Carlos's sentence is completed. But you'd get this marked wrong (though I'd certainly use ' "I live in Munich." was written on the card.', if the full stop was actually written). – Edwin Ashworth Mar 08 '16 at 11:37
  • Sometimes we fight with correctors for such tiny questions & if we do allow importance on a particular point, the final result is : "Do as you want... so far the Court or other lectors don't care !" – DAVE Mar 08 '16 at 11:39