Correct Use of Inverted Commas 投稿者: Jaspal Singh
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Friends,
Which one you think is correct out of follwing:
1. He said "Look at the tree."
2. He said "Look at the tree".
According to me 2nd sentence is correct.
Thanks in advance...
[Edited at 2014-07-01 11:01 GMT]
| | | | Jan Willem van Dormolen (X) 
オランダ
Local time: 07:19
英語 から オランダ語
+ ...
| Depends on locale | Jul 1, 2014 |
This depends on the country you intend the text for. The second sentence is indeed more logical, and that is the way many countries do it. However, there are also countries where the first is used. I seem to recall that US and UK are different in this respect too.
The reason being that in the days of physical typesetting, the period would often break off, so typesetters would protect it by moving it a little bit to the front.
| | | | | | | Correct Use of Inverted Commas | Jul 1, 2014 |
In the past I was always double checking that.
Case 1 – Inverted commas come before the period when the phrase is continuing or explaining the one you are writing. e.g:
Já antecipava McLuhan na década de 60 que “a mudança se tornou a única constante de nossa vida”.
Já antecipava McLuhan na década de 60: “A mudança se tornou a única constante de nossa vida”.
Enquanto não houver “uma nova, forte e legítima razão d... See more In the past I was always double checking that.
Case 1 – Inverted commas come before the period when the phrase is continuing or explaining the one you are writing. e.g:
Já antecipava McLuhan na década de 60 que “a mudança se tornou a única constante de nossa vida”.
Já antecipava McLuhan na década de 60: “A mudança se tornou a única constante de nossa vida”.
Enquanto não houver “uma nova, forte e legítima razão de interesse comum”, finaliza o relator, os condôminos continuarão a utilizar tais áreas, em conformidade com o “princípio ético de respeito às relações definidas por décadas de convívio”.
Note: When extra info is added in brackets, the period goes right at the end of whole segment, after brackets:
“Eles compõem o cérebro da rede e localizam-se em todos os seus entroncamentos” (Pessini, 1986, p. 14).
Case 2 – Inverted commas come after a period when the quoting is written in a whole and isolated: In other words: Inverted commas are always after periods when quoting.
“Saber é poder.”
“Informação não é o mesmo que conhecimento.”
I hope I have helped.
http://www.linguabrasil.com.br/nao-tropece-detail.php?id=778 ▲ Collapse
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| In the United States... | Jul 1, 2014 |
In the United States, you would write:
He said, "Look at the tree."
Note the comma as well, which is missing from both of your examples.
| | | | | Priod before inverted comma | Jul 1, 2014 |
This is what I teach my translation students (guidelines of French universities in general) >> He said, "Look at the tree."
The period will also preceed the closing bracket >> He ate an apple (and it was delicious.)
This being said, I have been observing punctuation in many magazines and newspapers and I cannot say that I have found a unique convention per country. The Economist and the Guardian, for example, but also many US/Canadian newspapers, tend to use these rules... See more This is what I teach my translation students (guidelines of French universities in general) >> He said, "Look at the tree."
The period will also preceed the closing bracket >> He ate an apple (and it was delicious.)
This being said, I have been observing punctuation in many magazines and newspapers and I cannot say that I have found a unique convention per country. The Economist and the Guardian, for example, but also many US/Canadian newspapers, tend to use these rules... but others don't.
European Union style guide http://ec.europa.eu/translation/english/guidelines/documents/styleguide_english_dgt_en.pdf p.26
Placing of quotation marks. Quotation marks at the end of a sentence normally precede the concluding full stop, question mark or exclamation mark:
The American Government favours ‘a two-way street in arms procurement’.
Has the Commission published ‘A European Strategy for Encouraging Local Development and Employment Initiatives’?
However, if the quotation itself contains a concluding mark, no full stop is required after the quotation mark.
Walther Rathenau once said ‘We stand or fall on our economic performance.’
This section is entitled ‘A new culture of entrepreneurship in the EU: What to do?’
I hope this helps.
[Modifié le 2014-07-01 13:52 GMT]
[Modifié le 2014-07-01 13:53 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Samuel Murray
オランダ
Local time: 07:19
2006に入会
英語 から アフリカーンス語
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| It depends where you are | Jul 1, 2014 |
js91872 wrote:
1. He said "Look at the tree."
2. He said "Look at the tree".
In this particular case, #1 will do it for me. I translate for South African English (and Afrikaans), so that would affect the way I write it. Here are some more examples of how I would do it:
Paul said "We did it."
Paul said "We did it," but Peter said "No, we didn't."
Paul said "We did it!" but Peter said "No, we didn't."
Paul said "We did it?" but Peter said "No, we didn't."
Paul said "We did it..." and Peter said "No, we didn't."
Paul said he "came home late".
Paul said he "came home late", but Peter said he "came home early".
Paul said he "came home late" and Peter agreed.
...and just to throw a spanner in the works:
Paul said he "came home late", but Peter said "We came home early."
The following are also all correct:
He said: "It is hot."
He said, "It is hot."
He said "It is hot."
He did not say "it is warm" but "it is hot".
He said it is "hot". (itching to add the "that")
Samuel
| | | | Jaspal Singh
インド
Local time: 10:49
英語 から パンジャブ語
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TOPIC STARTER | Thanks to All of You | Jul 2, 2014 |
Thanks to all of you for the replies.
What I have learned is that this depends on the locale, there is flexibility from country to country, region to region.
Thanks again.
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| MHRA style (Section 9.3) | Jul 2, 2014 |
Edit: Sorry to duplicate your summary, your previous text hadn't appeared yet when I wrote the following.
He said 'Look at the tree'.
AND:
He said that we should 'look at the tree'.
BUT:
He said: 'Look at the tree.' (complete sentence set off by punctuation)
Different UK style guides may handle details differently, but the principle remains the same: The period precedes the inverted comma only if the quoted material is a comp... See more Edit: Sorry to duplicate your summary, your previous text hadn't appeared yet when I wrote the following.
He said 'Look at the tree'.
AND:
He said that we should 'look at the tree'.
BUT:
He said: 'Look at the tree.' (complete sentence set off by punctuation)
Different UK style guides may handle details differently, but the principle remains the same: The period precedes the inverted comma only if the quoted material is a complete sentence.
In the US, more or less all style guides always place commas and periods before closing quotation marks.
As others have said, the question is unanswerable unless you specify a geographical variant (US, UK, South African English etc.) and, in many cases, a style guide as well.
[Edited at 2014-07-02 08:05 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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js91872 wrote:
According to me 2nd sentence is correct.
I agree. But I've had said THE 2nd sentence (although I know my many Indian friends often leave out *** definite article) !
[Edited at 2014-07-02 12:23 GMT]
| | | | | It's OK to simplify the universe from time to time... | Jul 2, 2014 |
Grace Shalhoub wrote:
The period will also preceed the closing bracket >> He ate an apple (and it was delicious.)
I'm genuinely curious: as you sit looking at your example, are you not thinking, "That's a really illogical place to put the bracket"...?
| | | | Georgia Morg (X)
英国
Local time: 06:19
ポルトガル語 から 英語
Neil Coffey wrote: Grace Shalhoub wrote:
The period will also preceed the closing bracket >> He ate an apple (and it was delicious.)
I'm genuinely curious: as you sit looking at your example, are you not thinking, "That's a really illogical place to put the bracket"...?
Well, as I sit looking at the example, I am thinking "That's a really bad spelling of "precede"!!
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