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Quick grammatical question

T

TJN23

Golden Member
When quoting a word at the end of a interrogative sentence, where do the quotes go?

here's my sentence - example:

If statistics show that printable forms of media can reach virtually all members of every social and ethnic group, then why should it feel any pressure from the prospect of emerging ?e-publishers??

?e-publishers?? or ?e-publishers"?
 
I don't have a grammar citation handy, but I don't see why the question mark would be included inside the quotation marks unless it was part of a quotation.
 
I would assume that the punctuation would go outside the marks, much like parentheses. I qould question the use of quotation marks in that manner in the first place though. Seems unnecessary.
 
do you think modern rules of grammar would accept the precendent e-

e-file
email
etc.

e-publishers or "e-publishers"
 
I suck at grammer, but I do remember one rule that my teachers forced down my throat when I was young. If the quote is a sentence, then include the punctuation inside the quotation marks. Otherwise it always belongs outside.
 
I would go ?e-publishers"?

If the whole sentence was quoted instead, then it would be included inside the quotes. But when it's just a word, leave it outside.
 
what about just plain ole'

e-publishers?


this is an IT paper for a 477 level class - I tend to think an IT professor would be a little lenient seeing it without quotes versus an English professor
 
"e-publishers"?

unless you're quoting a question in your question, in which case, it would be:

"e-publishers?"?
 
Put a dash, question mark, or exclamation point within closing quotation marks when the punctuation applies to the quotation itself and outside when it applies to the whole sentence.

Philip asked, "Do you need this book?"
Does Dr. Lim always say to her students, "You must work harder"?

From here.

It also says there NOT to put quotation mark around common nicknames, bits of humor, technical terms that readers are likely to know, and trite or well-known expressions.

In this case I would write e-publishers? no quotes.
 
Originally posted by: dullard
I suck at grammer, but I do remember one rule that my teachers forced down my throat when I was young. If the quote is a sentence, then include the punctuation inside the quotation marks. Otherwise it always belongs outside.
Click to expand...
Thats the same rule i remember.. so in this instance it would be "e-publishers"?
 
Originally posted by: SWScorch
I was always told that all punctuation except colons and semicolons belong inside the quotation marks.
Click to expand...

That's how I remember it too, but your case is definitely unique.

 
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