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Q: punctuation ( Answered 5 out of 5 stars,   1 Comment )
Question  
Subject: punctuation
Category: Reference, Education and News
Asked by: nana_m-ga
List Price: $6.00
Posted: 17 May 2004 13:19 PDT
Expires: 16 Jun 2004 13:19 PDT
Question ID: 347776
What is the correct punctuation for this sentence?

Joe wants to learn to sing "Happy Birthday".

or

Joe wants to learn to sing "Happy Birthday."
Answer  
Subject: Re: punctuation
Answered By: raln-ga on 17 May 2004 14:10 PDT
Rated:5 out of 5 stars
 
It depends on what country you are from. If you are writing from the
United States, the correct way to write it is:

Joe wants to learn to sing "Happy Birthday."

In most of the rest of the world, it is considered proper to write it as:

Joe wants to learn to sing "Happy Birthday".

Evidence of this can be found in the Guide to Grammar and Writing on
the  Capital Community College Foundation website (
http://webster.commnet.edu/grammar/marks/quotation.htm )

The guide says that in the United States, "periods and commas go
inside quotation marks regardless of logic." In the UK and Canada,
punctuation around quotatations marks are "more apt to follow logic".

It gives an example:

---
In American style, then, you would write: My favorite poem is Robert
Frost's "Design." But in England you would write: My favorite poem is
Robert Frost's "Design".
---

This is further supported on the website GrammarTips(
http://www.grammartips.homestead.com/inside.html ). American "usage
places commas and periods inside the quotation marks, regardless of
logic."

The GrammarTips site is an interesting read, with the person providing
the information on the site saying that he lets his British students
place periods and commas outside the quotation marks. His American
students, however, have to do it the "American way" and place them
inside the quotation marks.

Hope I was helpful. I'll be glad to provide any clarification or
additional information if you need it.
nana_m-ga rated this answer:5 out of 5 stars
Your answer matches Truss's opinion in Eats, Shoots & Leaves, which
is, by the way, a great read.

Comments  
Subject: Re: punctuation
From: i_know_that-ga on 16 Jun 2004 18:45 PDT
 
Canadian punctuation.  In St. Martin's Handbook for Canadians, the
correct structure would be to have the period inside the quotes.

Joe wants to learn to sing "Happy Birthday."

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