Where to Put Punctuation in Quotes

With my primary writing and grammar classes far behind me, I often find myself reviewing rules when something just looks a little off. One such question I had recently was the proper placement of punctuation within quotes. For those that are curious, they go inside the quotes.

Put commas and periods within closing quotation marks, except when a parenthetical reference follows the quotation.

• He said, “I may forget your name, but I never remember a face.”
• History is stained with blood spilled in the name of “civilization.”
• Mullen, criticizing the apparent inaction, writes, “Donahue’s policy was to do nothing” (27).

More at the Online Writing Lab.