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Punctuation, part 1: Periods and quotation
marks
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As you know, a period is placed at the end of
a declarative sentence.
Also, at the end of a mildly imperative
sentence: Shut the door.
At the end of some rhetorical questions,
when it is more of a suggestion than a
question: Why don’t we go.
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In general, refer to the abbreviations and
acronyms entry we discussed before.
Initials: In a full name, initials are to contain
periods. T.S. Eliot, John F. Kennedy.
When it is an abbreviation using only initials,
no periods are used: JFK, LBJ
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Use a period instead of a question mark at
the end of an indirect question: He asked
what the score was.
When placing a period at the end of a
sentence, use a single space before starting
the next sentence.
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Periods always go inside quotation marks. For
example: “He is one of our finest soldiers.”
Commas also always go within quotation
marks. For example: “Back then, we never
knew what we were missing,” Jones said.
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As we have discussed, when we use a
speaker’s exact words in our stories, it is a
direct quote and those words are placed
between quotation marks.
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For direct quotes that are more than one
sentence, it’s best to attribute at the end of
the first sentence.
For example: “This budget is the best we can
do under the circumstances,” Smith said.
“We’re working hard to make sure that
citizens won’t feel much impact from the
cutbacks.”
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When directly quoting someone for more than
one consecutive paragraph, no quote mark is
placed at the end of the first paragraph.
For example: “I guarantee our players will
work hard every day this season,” Leyland
said. “I won’t allow anything less than 110
percent.
“Anyone who chooses to dog it out there
won’t be on this team for long.”
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Put quote marks around words used in an
ironical sense: The “debate” turned into a
free-for-all.
An unfamiliar word being introduced to
readers may be placed between quote marks:
Broadcast frequencies are measured in
“kilohertz.”
In subsequent references, you wouldn’t use
quote marks around kilohertz.
Only use these conventions rarely.
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When using a small piece of a quote, place
quote marks around just the exact words the
speaker uses: She said she was horrified at
their “slovenly manners.”
It’s often better to use the full quote.
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Do not use quotation marks to report a few
ordinary words or an ordinary partial quote.
Example of what not to do: The senator said
he would “go home to Michigan” if he lost the
election.
Instead: The senator said he would go home
to Michigan if he lost the election.
Why? Losing the election pretty much means
a senator goes home, regardless.
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Alternate between double quotation marks
(“”) and single quotation marks (‘’)
Ex. She said, “I quote from this letter, ‘I agree
with Kipling that “the female of the species is
more deadly than the male,” but the
phenomenon is not an unchangeable law of
nature,’ a remark he did not explain.”
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Use three quote marks in a row if two quoted
elements end at the same time.
For example: She said, “He told me, ‘I love
you.’”
Note where the period is placed in the
example.
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Periods and commas always go within
quotation marks.
Dashes, semicolons, question marks and
exclamation points go within quotation marks
when they apply to the quoted material. They
go outside when they apply to the whole
sentence.
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The rules for using quotation marks with
books, magazines, movies, recorded music,
plays, etc. are listed in the stylebook under
composition titles.