<p>I'm usually a stickler when it comes to grammar and punctuation, but I've noticed many people don't follow the same rules that I've been taught by my English teachers. I was wondering if anyone could answer a few questions I have.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Does punctuation go inside quotation marks? If what I'm quoting doesn't have a question mark, but I'm asking a question, should I place the question mark inside or outside the quotes?</p></li>
<li><p>When making a name that ends with an S possessive, should I add an apostrophe with another S, or should I only add an apostrophe? For example, how would I correctly write "James' dog?"</p></li>
<li><p>Let's say for a party invitation somebody writes "The Bennetts are having a party!"
a) Should it be Bennetts' or should it remain the way it is?
b) Would it be different if the family's surname naturally ends with an S?</p></li>
<li><p>What is the difference between semicolons, parentheses, and hyphens? Please provide examples!</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Please don't simply quote another website or link one. I've found many contradicting statements online so I decided to ask these questions here. Thanks. :)</p>
<p>From a parent:</p>
<p>1- depends… it would help if you have an example.<br>
I asked my friend, “Do you want to go to the store?”. (that is correctly punctuated). the quote is question, but the overall sentence is just a statement/sentence that naturally ends with a period. </p>
<p>2 - James’ dog is correct. James’s dog is incorrect. Jame’s dog is incorrect (unless the person’s name is Jame)</p>
<p>3) it should remain as is, if it is plural members of the Bennett family. There is no possession to indicate via an apostrophe.</p>
<p>4) look up online :)</p>
<p>this is coming from a high school junior, but…
- i think that the punctuation that belongs with the quote stays in the quote. if you’re asking a question, put the question mark outside of the quotation. but i agree with crazymomster that it would help to have an example. and @crazymomster i don’t think there would be a period after the quotation. that’s not how it is in books. It would just be, 'I asked my friend, “Do you want to go to the store?” He didn’t answer right away…" so the next sentence begins without a period preceding it.
- James’ dog is the most correct but i’ve also seen James’s dog. i would stick with the first variation though.
- a) there would be no apostrophe unless you’re saying “The Bennets’ dog is cute,” or something.
b) it wouldn’t be different because an apostrophe shows possession, and there is no possession in that sentence. “the bennets are having a party” means they’re throwing/hosting a party, not that they OWN the party.
- semicolons join two independent clauses together. independent clauses are basically sentences that can stand alone. however, these two independent clauses should be related to one another. for example, “The party was loud and overly stimulating; I decided to leave before my migraine got any worse.”
i’m not so sure about parentheses. it seems like they aren’t used in writing that much (at least for school or the SAT). i just used them though lol so i use them to add on to a thought.
hyphens are used to add on to a thought as well. basically the technical term is appositive. an appositive renames a certain noun or pronoun (he, she, it, them, etc.) in the sentence, and is usually separated with a comma or two, a hyphen or two, or a colon. for example, “That call was from Julie, the smartest girl in the class.” “That call was from Julie - the smartest girl in the class.” “That call was from Julie: the smartest girl in the class.” The appositive here is “the smartest girl in the class” and it renames Julie. An example of using two commas or dashes is: “Julie, the smartest girl in the class, called me.” or “Julie - the smartest girl in the class - called me.”</p>
<p>hope that helped 
i’m also big into grammar and preciseness. </p>
<p>@crazymomster and @clarinetvirtuoso, thank you both!
An example for question 1:</p>
<p>Do you believe in the phrase “Everything happens for a reason?” </p>
<p>I always write it like that, but I see many people placing the question mark after the second quotation mark. Even though the question mark is not directly part of the quoted phrase, I think it looks weird if it’s stuck outside the quotes. </p>
<p>This brings me to two other questions:
a) Should I capitalize the first word in the quotation marks? I see it done both ways, but I think it depends on the context? I’m not sure when to capitalize or not.
b) What would I do with colons following quotation marks? Now this really confuses me. On the ACT today I noticed the questions would be like: The following demonstrates the author’s view that “homework is a necessary evil”: It put the colon outside the quote… Also, I think this would be a time when capitalizing “homework” is unnecessary? </p>
<p>Not knowing the answers to these questions have really irritated me (as I’m sure you have noticed)! </p>
<p>Your example is incorrect. I also believe that clarinet is incorrect. I am no grammar expert however :-)</p>
<p>Do you believe the phrase, “Everything happens for a reason”? Everything happens for a reason is not a question, but the complete sentence is, therefore the punctuation goes at the end. This is the same for clarinet. Punctuation applies to the sentence overall which is why a period will follow the question mark inside the quote in my example. Ah, just doing an example below I realized that there are probably specific rules as to when to follow the punctuated quote with punctuation.</p>
<p>The quote pertains to wherever you got the quote from, so if you are quoting only a portion of a sentence from a book for example…“and he went to the store to buy bread”, then that is the way you would do it, but if you are quoting the sentence in its’ entirety, then yes, you would capitalize, “He was at school and he went to the store to buy bread.”</p>
<p>A quote pertains directly to what is being quoted… if for your example that the homework is a necessary evil was taken from a source that continued with :, then it would be included, although it would be really odd to include it if that was the end of the quote, so then yes, if a colon is appropriate in the sentence, it would follow after the quote.</p>
<p>I am no grammar expert, but I do have better than average grammar knowledge.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Question mark goes outside of quote in your example.<br>
The following is correct: Do you believe in the phrase “Everything happens for a reason”?
If the writer is asking a question, then question mark outside of quotes. If what the writer is quoting is a question, then question mark inside of quotes.</p></li>
<li><p>I was taught that if the word was singular, possessive, and ended in a “S”, then it’s MOST proper to add a " ‘s". But I basically never see it in usage; most people just put the apostrophe at the end, as if it was plural possessive.
Since it’s a gray area, I think that they should not test this.
I was taught:
Most correct: James’s dog
Most used and thus, usually correct: James’ dog</p></li>
<li><p>Let’s say for a party invitation somebody writes “The Bennetts are having a party!”
No possession here. If surname ends in “s” then plural is by adding “es”
Correct:<br>
The Bennetts are having a party!
The Joneses are having a party!</p></li>
<li><p>Semicolons are a substitute for “, and”
Example: I am running, and I am hot. Or: I am running; I am hot
I’m not good with hyphens; don’t know the best rules.
Parenthesis are to show something of less importance, or a side note. I don’t think that it’s best used in formal writing except maybe around (e.g. ) or (i.e. )
I’m not really good with parenthesis either</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Correct:
Plural, non-possessive:
The Bennetts are having a party.
The Joneses are having a party.
Also correct:
Plural possessive:
The party is at the Bennetts’ house.
The party is at the Joneses’ house.
Or singular possessive:
The party is at Cliff’s house.
The party is at James’s house. (although more common convention as I mentioned above is)
The party is at James’ house.</p>