Quotation Marks And Punctuation archives - Writing for Business

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quotation marks and punctuation

Sep 9 2009   4:51PM GMT

Does a question mark go inside or outside of quotation marks?



Posted by: Ivy Wigmore
CIO, quotation marks, question marks, punctuation, quotation marks and punctuation, Business writing, Quiz

Which is correct?
After the presentation, several attendees asked “What are the drawbacks to _________
a. virtualization?”
b. virtualization”?

Answer: a

Explanation:
According to AP style, a question mark is inside quotation marks if that part is the question and outside the quotation marks if the whole sentence is a question. (The same rule applies to exclamation marks and dashes. Periods and commas always go inside quotation marks.)

Grammarbook.com has more information about quotation marks and punctuation.

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