-By Warner Todd Huston
I learned something today that I was not aware of concerning the use of quote marks. This might help others that are equally ignorant on the grammatical rule.
Now, I knew that in America we put a period inside the quotes in a sentence relating what someone else said. Like so:
Then John said, “this is the sort of place I love.”
I was also aware that the Brits do it differently. Like this:
Then John said, “this is the sort of place I love“.
But I was not aware that when using quotes that don’t encapsulate a sentence and when the quote lands at the end of a sentence, we do not put the period inside the quote marks. For instance, the use of scare quotes, or quotes to denote a euphemism or used mockingly, is different than the use of quotes encapsulating a full sentence.
Like so:
Next he talked about “global warming”.
Here the period lands outside the quotes because the full stop for the sentence was not part of the quotation.
I did not know this. I will try to remember this from now on.Maybe it will help you, too?
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Grammar Tip: Use of Quote Marks”