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izz aty

Quotation Marks: Where Do the Periods and Commas Go--And Why? - 0 views

grammartips.homestead.com/inside.html

quotation marks punctuation grammar sentence english language language learning reference learning

shared by izz aty on 09 Apr 12 - No Cached
  • use a question mark or an exclamation point with a sentence that ends in a quotation, we follow the dictates of logic in determining where the question mark or exclamation point goes
  • part of the quotation itself, we put it inside the quotation marks, and if it governs the sentence as a whole but not the material being quoted, we put it outside the quotation marks
  • Universal American usage places commas and periods inside the quotation marks, regardless of logic.
  • ...8 more annotations...
  • rule applies even when the unit enclosed at the end of the sentence is just a single word rather than an actual quotation
  • British don't do it that way.  They are inclined to place commas and periods logically rather than conventionally, depending on whether the punctuation belongs to the quotation or to the sentence that contains the quotation, just as we do with question marks and exclamation points.
  • if another set of words or a parenthetical citation gets between the quoted material and the end of a sentence, then the comma or period will follow the intervening elements
  • this comma and period inside the quotation marks business is strictly American usage
  • when that last little item enclosed in quotation marks is just a letter or a number, in which case the period or comma will go outside the closing quotation marks
  • even more important is the matter of consistency
  • if you are an American, you need to keep your commas and periods inside your closing quotation marks
  • only American printers were more attached to convenience than logic, since British printers continued to risk the misalignment of their periods and commas
izz aty

Comma splice - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - 0 views

en.wikipedia.org/...Comma_splice

grammar comma punctuation linguistics metalinguistics metalanguage english esol language learning learning resources reference education language esl

shared by izz aty on 30 Dec 13 - Cached
  • There are several ways to correct a comma splice:
  • Change the comma to a semicolon, dash, or colon:
  • Write the two clauses as two separate sentences:
  • ...7 more annotations...
  • Use a semicolon plus a conjunctive adverb:
  • Make one clause dependent on the other:
  • Insert a coordinating conjunction following the comma:
  • splices are sometimes acceptable when the clauses are short and alike in form, such as: The gate swung apart, the bridge fell, the portcullis was drawn up. The famous sentence I came, I saw, I conquered falls into the same category.
  • often considered acceptable in poetic writing. The editors of the Jerusalem Bible translate Isaiah 11:4 as: His word is a rock that strikes the ruthless, his sentences bring death to the wicked
  • The British author Lynne Truss[9] observes: "so many highly respected writers observe the splice comma that a rather unfair rule emerges on this one: only do it if you're famous." She cites Samuel Beckett, E. M. Forster, and Somerset Maugham. "Done knowingly by an established writer, the comma splice is effective, poetic, dashing. Done equally knowingly by people who are not published writers, it can look weak or presumptuous. Done ignorantly by ignorant people, it is awful."
  • Comma splices are considered acceptable by some in passages of spoken (or interior) dialogue, and are sometimes used deliberately to emulate spoken language more closely.
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