Quotation Marks & Punctuation (aka USA v. UK)
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The Brits and Yanks don’t just differ on the spelling of certain words, but also on whether or not to place punctuation inside or outside of quotation marks. Take the following example:
- The sign read, “Yield to Kangaroos.” (American Style) OR
- The sign read, “Yield to Kangaroos”. (British Style)
The British Style is also called the Logical Style. Since the period isn’t part of the quoted material, it doesn’t make sense to place the period inside the quoted material. On the other hand, the American Style is the archaic British Style, which arose from printing press necessities. Due to the way a printing press works, the period and the comma are the most fragile elements and easily broken. Placing a period after the quotation mark and directly before a space increased the likelihood of it breaking. However, placing the period inside the quotation mark kept it safe and snug. Nowadays though, some people prefer the American Style for its aesthetic qualities: it simply looks cleaner.
This isn’t to say, though, that if you’re British you must use the British Style and if you’re American, you must use the American Style. Usage varies in both countries. BBC News frequently switches between styles, and in the USA, the British Style is preferred in technical and scientific writing.
Which one you follow is mostly up to you; just be consistent. I say mostly because you may have a teacher or an employer that prefers you use one style over the other, and in such instances, you should conform to what they want.
More examples follow after the break.
- My book says that Kangaroos “lack the ability to breath fire.” (American Style)
- My book says that Kangaroos “lack the ability to breath fire”. (British Style)
- She said, “Twilight beats Kangaroos hands down.” (American Style)
- She said, “Twilight beats Kangaroos hands down”. (British Style)
However, both styles are the same when it comes to question marks and exclamation marks. If it’s part of the quoted material, they go inside. If not, they go outside.
- I asked her, “How could you ever say that Twilight beats Kangaroos?” (Both Styles)
- Why did she say, “Because Kangaroos look funny”? (Both Styles)
And if the period would cause ambiguity/confusion by going inside the quotation mark, it should go outside.
- The filename is “index.html”. (Both Styles)
Lastly, question marks and exclamation marks can end quoted material even when it’s not the end of the sentence. This is not true for periods.
- Correct: “I saw you!” she exclaimed.
- Correct: “Where did you see me?” he asked.
- Incorrect: “By the Kangaroo.” she said.
- Correct British Style: “By the Kangaroo”, she said.
- Correct American Style: “By the Kangaroo,” she said.
Cool post, Nate. I learn something new about the differences between Britain and America every day ^^
I’ve also been taught to place the comma after the quote, like in the British style. But when I joined YWS and saw mostly the comma-inside-the-quote thing, I started to do it too. I’m not a conformist.
I just thought that that was the habit in the English language, and that placing a comma after the quote would be incorrect. So apparently it isn’t!
In dialogue itself would it be appropriate in the British way to do something like this:
“My name”, said the man, “is John”.
The above just looks rather weird.
Weird… My English teacher in highschool thought the British way looked cleaner, but she taught us American punctuation. Considering she didn’t call putting the quote outside the quotation mark “British style,” I’m guessing she didn’t know about it.
Weird… According to the examples you have here, I use a combination of the two, depending on the contents of the sentence.
Master_Yoda: You’d be correct. I’ve added a couple more examples at the end of the post to clarify that.
Excessive tea drinking can cause these sorts of things.
I tend to use the British rules when I’m being technical, for example when I’m quoting something in one of my essays, but when it comes to dialogue in books the American rules get used.
Or you could, you know, not do quotation marks at all…
I’ve never used/seen the British rules used where dialogue is concerned- like in that “she said” one. But I would use it in the first instance because, well, I’ve just learnt it like that…
I prefer the British way, actually. It makes more sense to me, though I can see why you’d say it’s not as neat looking. I can’t remember which way I learned it at school. I think I learned the British way, in second grade, because I remember it making sense, and the American way doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me (even though I’m American). It doesn’t seem nearly as logical as the British way.
Very interesting, I hadn’t actually heard of there being two different styles, until now. Too bad, because I could have avoided being marked down some on my English essays–I realize now that the teacher expected American style and I, as I said, use British. D’oh!