[ http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/g_quote.html ]
You only put the punctuation within the quotation marks if the quoted person is using that punctuation on the quoted word. If I'm the one asking the question, then it goes outside the quotation marks. I was not quoting a question that you asked... I was questioning a word that you said.From that site: Put a dash, question mark, or exclamation point within closing quotation marks when the punctuation applies to the quotation itself and outside when it applies to the whole sentence. Philip asked, "Do you need this book?" Does Dr. Lim always say to her students, "You must work harder"? Sharon shouted enthusiastically, "We won! We won!" I can't believe you actually like that song, "If You Wanna Be My Lover"! Examples two and four would apply to my previous post. Since I am the one applying punctuation to the sentence instead of quoting a punctuated statement, the punctuation is applied outside the quotation marks.
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22:15:12 10/22/03
