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Old 11-07-2009, 06:34 AM   #1
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Confusion about quote marks.
Hi! I'm stuck on this paragraph:
Quote:
Inside the apartment, her father's low voice intersected her mother's shrill protests. Somewhere in the mix, Rebecca heard "New start" and "Time to think".
I'm not sure whether the period belongs inside or outside the quotes, since this isn't dialogue.

Can anyone straighten me out please & thanks?
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Old 11-07-2009, 06:38 AM   #2
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Is someone saying those things or are they thoughts? If they are the character's thoughts, I think you should italicize. The way I read it, though, was she was hearing bits and pieces of what her parents were saying, so quotes would be right. I'm pretty sure this is right, but someone else correct me if I'm wrong!

Somewhere in the mix, Rebecca heard them say, "new start," and, "time to think."
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Old 11-07-2009, 06:43 AM   #3
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This example is a little tricky. My instant reaction is that either way would work. Which means:

It's a really minor editor's problem. God created editors for exactly this purpose.

Go write more story.

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Old 11-07-2009, 06:51 AM   #4
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Somewhere in the mix, Rebecca heard "New start," and "Time to think."

I would put a comma after new start and the period inside like this if these are voices she's hearing. I'm a grammar moron though, I'm interested to hear what other people have to say.
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Old 11-07-2009, 06:54 AM   #5
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Personal thought (without looking it up and being a total grammar dunce) is that, as written, it should go outside. It's not really dialogue so I don't think it would go inside.
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Old 11-07-2009, 06:57 AM   #6
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Can you tell I'm stalling LOL! Thanks, guys. I'll put the punctuation inside the quotes for now, and let the editor worry about it later.

Must go make more words now!

Thanks, but carry on if you want, in case someone else is wondering...
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Old 11-07-2009, 06:59 AM   #7
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Old 11-07-2009, 07:06 AM   #8
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Old 11-07-2009, 08:06 PM   #9
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I wouldn't put the comma in there. I don't think it's needed.
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Old 11-07-2009, 08:16 PM   #10
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I think in U.S., the period always goes inside the quotes, regardless of logic.

Can't help you with Canada.
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Old 11-07-2009, 09:49 PM   #11
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Just to mix things up -- I would put the punctuation outside the quotes. The statements are within the larger sentence.
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Old 11-07-2009, 10:23 PM   #12
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In the US, the period goes inside the quotation marks.

And that is dialogue, because someone is saying it. It's fragmented dialogue, but it's dialogue nonetheless.

If I were your editor, I would change that to:

Inside the apartment, her father's low voice intersected her mother's shrill protests. Somewhere in the mix, Rebecca heard "...new start," and "time to think."
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Old 11-08-2009, 02:11 AM   #13
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In the U.S., periods and commas always go inside quotation marks.

In Canada or Britain, you'd put the period outside the quotation marks in the sentence you gave (I'm fairly certain).
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Old 11-08-2009, 02:55 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by veronie View Post
In Canada or Britain, you'd put the period outside the quotation marks in the sentence you gave (I'm fairly certain).
No, you wouldn't. The two thoughts are both complete sentences and thus require some punctuation to end them. This goes inside the quotations marks. And since there is punctuation inside the quotation marks, you don't need it again outside.

Where it is different in the UK is if you are quoting incomplete phrases (but not in dialogue) that don't include any punctuation of their own. In that case you wouldn't add punctuation to the quotation, so you would need to put it outside the quotation mark.
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Old 11-08-2009, 07:11 AM   #15
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I will defer to you, since I don't work with British English. But, I still have questions, because it does not seem like it is strict dialogue in his example. It seems the narrator is recalling past dialogue, and recalling two different bits of it, and thus to me would require the period on the outside. I admit, I'm not sure how the British rules exactly apply.

P.S. I mean, the British system involving quotation marks is all about being logical, and logic dictates that since you have to bits of dialogue, both incomplete, the period doesn't necessarily belong with the last one, rather the period belongs with the total sentence, hence outside the quotation marks.
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Old 11-08-2009, 07:13 AM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by veronie View Post
I will defer to you, since I don't work with British English. But, I still have questions, because it does not seem like it is strict dialogue in his example. It seems the narrator is recalling past dialogue, and recalling two different bits of it, and thus to me would require the period on the outside. I admit, I'm not sure how the British rules exactly apply.
I took it as the narrator recalling and possibly even interpreting. I did not read it as dialogue.
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Old 11-08-2009, 01:14 PM   #17
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So the US one is always one way and easier to remember? Ah! I'm good to go then, for life. Cool. Where's the beer ?
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Old 11-11-2009, 09:28 AM   #18
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Yeah, it wasn't really dialogue, just snippets of conversation. This is really interesting!
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Old 11-11-2009, 08:27 PM   #19
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I was told by an English teacher, who edited my MS, that punctuation always goes inside the quotes (in the US). In this particular case I had single quotes inside double quotes. The period (full stop) still went inside the single quote. It went someting like: Sam said, "I heard the cop say 'Drop the gun or I'll shoot.'"
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