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I was taught that punctuation goes inside quotes.

For example, this would be wrong:

Mama opts to give Maggie the quilts because “Maggie knows how to quilt".

But someone was reading my essay and told me I'm wrong.

Please clarify. I'm confused :(

Manny
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  • To a certain extent this is a matter of personal choice, plus the "expert advice" has changed since about 50 years ago, so older references are not to be trusted. – Hot Licks Jun 21 '20 at 01:25
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    There's the American way of doing it, and then there's the right way. – nnnnnn Jun 21 '20 at 01:31
  • @Hellion hmm does that mean it would only be correct for some punctuation? For example, it would be incorrect to say: She said she "wanted cake?" – Manny Jun 21 '20 at 01:37
  • @ManaalSiddiqui - The question mark makes no sense in that example. – Hot Licks Jun 22 '20 at 02:35

1 Answers1

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If the punctuation is part of the quoted material, the quote mark would go outside of the punctuation.

He said, "I hate you."

If the quoted material contains no punctuation--perhaps a phrase: Do you like "belly buttons"?--the punctuation would go outside the material in quotes. However logical this is, it is frequently violated.

However, the first example is rigidly adhered to, as the link provided in a comment above will attest.

Zan700
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