Quotation Marks

Sometimes people put the period and comma inside the end quotation mark, and sometimes they put them outside. What's the right way? Just wondering in San Fran

Hi JW,

In the United States, we put the period, the exclamation point, and the comma INSIDE the end quotation mark. (In Britain, they do the opposite.)

My teacher always says, "Don't use the word 'nice.' It's a lazy word."

However, the semicolon and colon are always placed OUTSIDE the quotation mark.

My teacher said I shouldn't use the word "nice"; she thinks it's a lazy word.

Questions marks and exclamation points are placed inside the end quotation mark unless they belong to quoted material:

Seething with anger, she asked, "What gives you the right to act so "holier than thou?"

What gives him the right to act so "holier than thou"?

Source: The Chicago Manual of Style

Thank you for the question.