3 ms·
After reading the article and most of the comments, I still find one point unclear: if the period does logically belong inside the comma, does it also end the s
by nmc 11y ago
After reading the article and most of the comments, I still find one point unclear: if the period does logically belong inside the comma, does it also end the sentence?
For example:
> He wrote "I live here." Then he stopped writing.
> He wrote "I live here.". Then he stopped writing.
Of course the latter is the least aesthetic, but is it not the most logical?
- breadbox 11y agoYes. If a quote ends with a period, then it ends the sentence. If the sentence shouldn't end there, then the period is replaced with a comma (even if the quote was of a complete sentence). > He wrote "I live here," and then he stopped writing. This rule only applied to periods, though -- if the sentence ends with (say) a question mark, then you leave it in: > He wrote, "Do I live here?" and then he stopped writing.
- marincounty 11y agoI would have put a comma after the last quotation mark. Personally, I think instructors put too much emphasis on punctuation. I had one instructor ding me for not spelling out numbers between 0-10. I still don't know if he was right. I don't really care. Looking back he had some issues. This Doctor would love to argue with the boys. We were all so young. We didn't understand why he would make such a big deal out of little errors. Dr. B said, "Come to my office after class!" Looking back, I'm suprised he didn't offer us wine in those pointless office visits.