Rules for writers, Tenth edition - Diana Hacker, Nancy Sommers 2021

Use punctuation with quotation marks according to convention
Quotation marks
Punctuation

This section describes the conventions American publishers follow in placing various marks of punctuation inside or outside quotation marks. It also explains how to punctuate when introducing quoted material. (For the use of quotation marks in MLA and APA styles, see 57a and 62a, respectively. The examples in this section show MLA style.)

Periods and commas

Place periods and commas inside quotation marks.

“I’m here as part of my service-learning project,” I told the classroom teacher. “I’m hoping to become a reading specialist.”

This rule applies to single quotation marks as well as double quotation marks. (See 38b.) It also applies to all uses of quotation marks: for quoted material, for titles of works, and for words used as words.

NOTE: In MLA and APA styles of parenthetical in-text citations, the period follows the citation in parentheses.

James M. McPherson comments, approvingly, that the Whigs “were not averse to extending the blessings of American liberty, even to Mexicans and Indians” (48).

Colons and semicolons

Put colons and semicolons outside quotation marks.

Harold wrote, “I regret that I am unable to attend the fundraiser for diabetes research”; his letter, however, came with a contribution.

Question marks and exclamation points

Put question marks and exclamation points inside quotation marks unless they apply to the whole sentence.

Dr. Abram’s first question was “What three goals do you have for the course?”

Have you heard the proverb “Do not climb the hill until you reach it”?

In the first sentence, the question mark applies only to the quoted question. In the second sentence, the question mark applies to the whole sentence.

NOTE: For a quotation that ends with a question mark or an exclamation point, the parenthetical citation and a period should follow the entire quotation.

Rosie Thomas asks, “Is nothing in life ever straight and clear, the way children see it?” (77).

Introducing quoted material

After a word group introducing a quotation, choose a colon, a comma, or no punctuation at all, whichever is appropriate in context.

Formal introduction

If a quotation is formally introduced, a colon is appropriate. A formal introduction is a full independent clause, not just an expression such as he said.

Thomas Friedman provides a challenging yet optimistic view of the future: “We need to get back to work on our country and on our planet. The hour is late, the stakes couldn’t be higher, the project couldn’t be harder, the payoff couldn’t be greater” (25).

Expression such as she writes

If a quotation is introduced with an expression such as he writes or she explained — or if it is followed by such an expression — a comma is needed.

Mark Twain once declared, “In the spring I have counted one hundred and thirty-six different kinds of weather within four and twenty hours” (55).

Blended quotation

When a quotation is blended into the writer’s own sentence, either a comma or no punctuation is appropriate, depending on how the quotation fits into the sentence structure.

The future champion could, as he put it, “float like a butterfly and sting like a bee.”

Virginia Woolf wrote in 1928 that “a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction” (4).

Beginning of sentence

If a quotation appears at the beginning of a sentence, use a comma after it unless the quotation ends with a question mark or an exclamation point.

“I’ve always thought of myself as a reporter,” American poet Gwendolyn Brooks once stated (162).

“What is it?” she asked, bracing herself.

Interrupted quotation

If a quoted sentence is interrupted by explanatory words, use commas to set off the explanatory words.

“With regard to air travel,” Stephen Ambrose notes, “Jefferson was a full century ahead of the curve” (53).

If two successive quoted sentences from the same source are interrupted by explanatory words, use a comma before the explanatory words and a period after them.

“Everyone agrees journalists must tell the truth,” Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel write. “Yet people are befuddled about what ’the truth’ means” (37).