Thanks, everyone. According to The American Heritage Guide to Contemporary Usage and Style: With other punctuation Put commas and periods inside closing quotation marks; put colons and semicolons outside. Other punctuation, such as exclamation

You need periods or, as appropriate, question marks at the end of all your sentences. The word "I" is always capitalised. Do not imagine that capitalisation and punctuation are unimportant. If you care at all about writing properly then

Sorry, I saw some of your posts were deleted while in moderation. I tried to at least bring one back here, but I don't think I am able to. I'll try to answer anyway. Really? Is that why most language forums are filled with technical

rafaelinrio: I don't know if you intended to be rude in your manner of posting, but that was certainly my reaction. I have several styles of answering in helping a student, including inserting comments, questions, and explanation for my

I find these rules at http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/quotes.asp very helpful. Rule 1 Periods and commas always go inside quotation marks, even inside single

I'd vote for the second sentence. Indirects don't require a question mark (according to many style manuals). Also, I test ... a falling inclination (politeness aside). Then again, English is not a regulated language so correct Englis is

I'd vote for the second sentence. Indirects don't require a question mark (according to many style manuals). Also, I test by saying the sentences out loud. Questions typically end with a rising intonation, whereas statements tend to end

I'd agree that it's not logical. It's in accord with American punctuation style, which makes no attempt to be logical with respect to punctuation with quotation marks. I should have said that American punctuation style makes only a

Please state your definition of "standard". What I'm saying is that UK editors will as a matter of course end with a comma before the quotation ... be assumed part of the textus noninterruptus . But I'm not sure what it is

The UK edition is exactly as Bob quoted it. That ... when the text is interrupted in that way. I disapprove. Please state your definition of "standard". What I'm saying is that UK editors will as a matter of course end with a comma