Sky's "How to English" Lessons

Discussion in 'Miscellaneous' started by Unoski, Mar 17, 2015.

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  1. periods outside of quotation marks look weird
    WayneKramer, Jun 30, 2015
    #61
    Ultimamaxx and georgeashington like this.
  2. #2a2a2a I believe
    jacob5089, Jun 30, 2015
    #62
    Lukas3226 likes this.
  3. I was under the impression that it was required for the sentence to be proper.
    Owl_on_Caffeine, Jun 30, 2015
    #63
  4. Part IV - The Grammar Nazi
    Jay2a, Jun 30, 2015
    #64
    wkramer79, PenguinDJ, hashhog3000 and 1 other person like this.
  5. If you put "and" in front of a sentence, it is automatically a sentence fragment.
    For all wondering, commas and periods are supposed to go inside the quotation marks. :)
    The comma is mandatory for completely proper grammar. :)
    Hashhog, Jun 30, 2015
    #65
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  6. I guess it just depends on what you were taught, just like the punctuation inside and outside of the quotation marks.

    I disagree. It isn't really practiced so much in modern writing.
    kaptrix, Jun 30, 2015
    #66
    DubChef likes this.

  7. I have never seen a modern novel that doesn't do this. :p
    Hashhog, Jun 30, 2015
    #67
  8. Added suggestion: Already Suggested Ideas page to Already Suggested Ideas page

    Irony?
    PenguinDJ, Jun 30, 2015
    #68
  9. I wouldn't define it as such because if had already been suggested than it would be expected to go to that page, but I might be misunderstanding the purpose of the thread page. :p

    EDIT: Also, can I make a suggestion? I think this thread should just be renamed to "Grammer Nazi Battlegrounds." Thanks. <3
    Hashhog, Jun 30, 2015
    #69
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  10. Not here to stir things up, but quoting/taking a screenshot of one source from google isn't proof. I'm not saying I sway one way or the other. I'm just saying that there are some "rules" people use differently.
    kaptrix, Jun 30, 2015
    #70
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  11. Per my instruction from school and my tenure with the literary criticism extracurricular program, punctuation marks and quotations are dependent on the structure of the sentence itself. If the quote itself doesn't include the punctuation, then it is assumed to follow on the outside of the quotation marks.

    For example:

    She used the terms "wrong" and "incorrect".
    vs
    She said "You're incorrect."
    Krysyy, Jun 30, 2015
    #71
    hashhog3000 likes this.
  12. Maybe it's just a southern US thing, but that's exactly what I've been taught as far as punctuation and quotation marks.
    kaptrix, Jun 30, 2015
    #72
    DubChef, hashhog3000 and krysyyjane9191 like this.
  13. Ah, I think there's been a misunderstanding. The comma only appears before dialogue when there is a speaker's tag, not random quotes people have said. As Krysyy said, it depends on the structure. For example, both of these are correct:

    1. When the pumpkin fell on the cat, Barney said, "Wow! That pumpkin squashed the cat!"
    2. When Barney said that the pumpkin "squashed the cat," I had to fight the urge to slap him for making yet another horrible pun.

    However, I believe that periods and commas are (in the USA, anyway) always supposed to go inside the quotation marks at all times. Other punctuation marks go inside only if they are part of the quotation.
    Hashhog, Jun 30, 2015
    #73
  14. The second sentence is incorrect. I had to look it up to make sure that it wasn't just the southern USA that learns it the way I said.

    Your second sentence SHOULD be:
    2. When Barney said that the pumpkin "squashed the cat", I had to fight the urge to slap him for making yet another horrible pun.

    The quote "squashed the cat" has no punctuation on its own.
    The original structure of the sentence requires a coma.
    Krysyy, Jun 30, 2015
    #74
    607 likes this.
  15. I just did another check, and every source I checked says that in the USA, periods and commas always go inside the quotation marks regardless of logic. :p What source did you use?
    Hashhog, Jun 30, 2015
    #75
    Ultimamaxx likes this.
  16. kaptrix, Jun 30, 2015
    #76
    DubChef, TomvanWijnen and hashhog3000 like this.
  17. Owl_on_Caffeine, Jun 30, 2015
    #77
    hashhog3000 likes this.
  18. Thank you. I never knew this, as I, like many others, was brought up with teachers who claimed it was a horrible crime that should result in you being thrown into grammar jail. However, to be fair, this was the sentence:
    Starting the second sentence with "and" is far less clean than just combining the two into a single compound sentence. I guess that's why I've never noticed that you could start a sentence with a coordinating conjunction before. Unless using it for dramatic effect, I think that it tends to look sloppy. :p
    Hashhog, Jun 30, 2015
    #78
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  19. The most common, mis-used form of grammar, I've noticed, is the use of "I".

    Did you give John and I the candy?

    ...That statement should be written, 'Did you give John and me the candy?'.

    ----

    The trick with learning when to use I versus me:

    1) Look at a sentence.

    You, Clarice, and me like grammar.

    2) Remove the other participants from the sentence.

    Me like grammar.

    3) Should you be using I or me in the sentence?

    I like grammar. | Me like grammar.

    4) Insert and return the correct subject usage and add the other participants back into the sentence.

    You, Clarice, and I like grammar.
    Elite, Jun 30, 2015
    #79
    Ultimamaxx, krysyyjane9191, PenguinDJ and 2 others like this.
  20. My schooling and http://www.thepunctuationguide.com/quotation-marks.html to check myself. I can try to find my old literary criticism materials, but that's the way I was always instructed.
    Krysyy, Jun 30, 2015
    #80
    hashhog3000 likes this.
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