Rule 1: Complete sentence: “quotation.” (If you use a complete sentence to introduce a quotation, use a colon (:) just before the quotation.) Rule 2: Someone says, “quotation.” (If the word just before the quotation is a verb indicating someone uttering the quoted words, use a comma.

A colon is used to give emphasis, present dialogue, introduce lists or text, and clarify composition titles. Emphasis—Capitalize the first word after the colon only if it is a proper noun or the start of a complete sentence. (She had one love: Western Michigan University.)

1 of the eighth edition of the MLA Handbook says, “Use a colon and a space to separate a title from a subtitle, unless the title ends in a question mark or an exclamation point. Include other punctuation only if it is part of the title or subtitle.”

In all cases of usage involving quotation marks (again, American usage, not British), commas and periods always go inside the quotation marks while semicolons and colons always go outside. Notice that the commas separating the titles are inside the quotation marks.

Commas should sometimes be placed before – and after – names and titles. Let’s start with the fact that unless a name or title is the last word(s) in a sentence, it can either be used with no commas at all, OR with a comma both before and after. It is incorrect to place only one comma before the name or title.

If you are telling someone “thank you” directly, you always need a comma after “thank you.” This is the most common way of using the phrase, so in most cases you will want that comma. You should also put a comma or a period after “thank you” if it’s the last part of a letter or email before your name or signature.

Commas and periods always go inside the quotation marks in American English; dashes, colons, and semicolons almost always go outside the quotation marks; question marks and exclamation marks sometimes go inside, sometimes stay outside.

Punctuation Junction: Question Marks and Quotation Marks

1. When the quotation itself is a question, put the question mark inside the quotation marks.
2. When the sentence as a whole is a question, but the quoted material is not, put the question mark outside the quotation marks.

Superscript numbers are placed after quotation marks, commas and periods. They are placed before semicolons and colons.

Ending a Sentence With a Quote Simply put, punctuation, like question marks and periods, that comes before the beginning of the quote goes outside of the quotation marks, and any punctuation that comes at the end of the quote stays inside the marks. In this sentence, there is a lead-in to the quote.

All well-known quotations that are attributable to an individual or to a text require citations. You should quote a famous saying as it appears in a primary or secondary source and then cite that source.

The day when I saw your beautiful smile that day my heart tells me that she is the one that you are searching for. You’re such a beautiful person with a beautiful heart. If the world knew you, then we’d all forget how to hate. I wanna be the reason behind your smile because surely you are the reason behind mine.

Your Beautiful Quotes To Compliment Her Beauty “Just like a flower, your beauty radiates to the morning sun.” “To wake up every morning and to see your beautiful smile is the sense of my life. You are fantastic.” “Magic is when our eyes meet, and we feel the spark between our hearts.