Punctuating quotations
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Re: Punctuating quotations
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Sorry, I disagree with Rosemary's original post at the top of this thread re. British English usage. It's true that we do put punctuation marks both inside and outside quotation marks, but it's not an inconsistency: it's in specific circumstances.
In British English, punctuation is included inside quotation marks if the sentence is direct speech. If, however, the quotation marks are being used to reference something cited elsewhere, but not in direct speech, British English places the punctuation outside the quotation marks.
For example:
1. "Hello," she said.
Punctuation inside quotation marks, as this is recording direct speech.
2. He described the character as "fat".
Punctuation outside quotation marks, as this is citing a reference but not direct speech.
There's a great explanation, including American English usage, on the Oxford English Dictionaries site in the grammar section: en.oxforddictionaries. com/punctuation/inverted-commas-quotation-marks
Hope that helps!
As CatInTheHat says, I've also had a review marked down for putting punctuation outside of quotation marks in an example of sentence 2 (which in British English is correct, but in American English incorrect), so I took that to mean that American English is expected here for book reviews - is that the case?
Thanks!
- MrsCatInTheHat
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I've been told British English for spelling is fine. I've not heard, from the powers to be, that editors should accept other versions of grammar, other than American English. That would be a considerable amount of knowledge to expect from the editors, as I'm sure it goes far beyond just quotation marks.Nicola Bigwood wrote: ↑13 Feb 2018, 14:58 Hi,
Sorry, I disagree with Rosemary's original post at the top of this thread re. British English usage. It's true that we do put punctuation marks both inside and outside quotation marks, but it's not an inconsistency: it's in specific circumstances.
In British English, punctuation is included inside quotation marks if the sentence is direct speech. If, however, the quotation marks are being used to reference something cited elsewhere, but not in direct speech, British English places the punctuation outside the quotation marks.
For example:
1. "Hello," she said.
Punctuation inside quotation marks, as this is recording direct speech.
2. He described the character as "fat".
Punctuation outside quotation marks, as this is citing a reference but not direct speech.
There's a great explanation, including American English usage, on the Oxford English Dictionaries site in the grammar section: en.oxforddictionaries. com/punctuation/inverted-commas-quotation-marks
Hope that helps!
As CatInTheHat says, I've also had a review marked down for putting punctuation outside of quotation marks in an example of sentence 2 (which in British English is correct, but in American English incorrect), so I took that to mean that American English is expected here for book reviews - is that the case?
Thanks!
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Just to clarify, is it established that reviews are assessed by editors based on American standards? In addition, if yes, does this also include spellings?CatInTheHat wrote: ↑24 Jan 2018, 18:54 When I first started writing reviews here, it was made clear that the punctuation is to go inside the quotation marks. My first few reviews were definitely marked off for this issue. I'm fine with it. Consistency is important.
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