Possible Duplicate: Is it correct to use “punctuation outside of the quotations”, or “inside?” I’ve heard that you should always place ending punctuation inside of quotes, no matter what. Are there any cases where it is appropriate for a sentence to end with “.? Answer Yes. See the Economist style guide: If the quotation does … Read more
I’ve seen a contraction of two words. I can’t see why it wouldn’t’ve been possible to have been contracted twice. Is it possible and how should it be punctuated? Update: Ok, to sum up the answers so far This appears in spoken British and American English It is from one of the lower registers of … Read more
What I’ve noticed about the long dash in English is that many writers don’t use spaces in front of the dash and after it. So, for example: I mean, it’s embarrassing for them. It’s painful for us to watch. I’m going out with someone later—I’m not even taking her out of the house. As you … Read more
I am trying to make a sentence like this: As of now, this library has 20 books, most written in English, most books are written by James. It should state that most books are written in English, but it must not mean that James only wrote most of the books in English, since he wrote … Read more
I have seen people put a comma right after an em dash. Is this practice correct? I guess it is not, since the em dash takes the place of the comma. Answer Swan’s PEU describes this. The em-dash does not take comma after it. That’s because, as you said it correctly, it replaces a comma … Read more
I am a little confused about the usage of a comma in sentences with conjunctions. For example: Dairying is concerned not only with the production of milk but with the manufacture of milk products. Can we put a comma before but? Can we say “Dairying is concerned not only with the production of milk, but … Read more
How do you correctly format a sarcastic question that includes a suggested answer? Like… Where did you get your license: the back of a cereal box? Is that correct? It seems wrong to make it two independent sentences, both ending with question marks, if the suggested answer is a run-on part of the same sarcastic … Read more
I have difficulty understanding why in this article approximately half of the quotes start with a letter in square brackets. What is the reason? Some examples: "[S]ame-sex segregation is a group phenomenon that arises from social processes that are related to gender identity and labeling common to all members of a sex, rather than to … Read more
I read this long sentence in today’s newspaper: Police believe the pirates who attacked the Singapore-owned oil tanker in the Straits of Malacca near Pulau Ketam early Tuesday, may have had “inside help” Is it better if I put a comma or semicolon as follows: Police believe the pirates, who attacked the Singapore-owned oil tanker … Read more
