In a previous blog post we looked att the use of the apostrophe as, among other things, a quotation mark.
When it comes to punctuation marks, they are placed differently in quotations in US English and UK English.
In US English, commas and periods at the end of a quote are placed within the quotation marks:
”My boyfriend gave me this beautiful necklace,” Susan said.
The reporter described the situation as ”chaotic.”
In UK English, all punctuation marks are placed outside the quotation marks (except when they are part of the quotation):
‘My boyfriend gave me this beautiful necklace’, Susan said.
The reporter described the situation as ‘chaotic’.
In both UK and US English, a question mark or an exclamation mark is placed inside the quotation when it is part of the quotation:
Looking at her calendar, she asked, ”How soon can you have it ready?”
In the following example, the question mark is not part of the quotation but of the whole sentence, which is a question:
How many of the students thought the lecture was ”very interesting”?
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