How to quote: As my father says, "Life wouldn't be...

[Butterfly]

Example:

As my father says, "Life wouldn't be interesting if people didn't have problems".

Are the punctuation marks correct; where to put them?

Thanks in advance

[Yankee]

.
For a quote like this, I'd say the period/full stop should be inside the quotaton marks.

As my father says, "Life wouldn't be interesting if people didn't have problems."

Have a look here

Amy
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[Canadian45]

This is a very interesting question and one I am currently confused about, so no one should take anything I say too seriously. Actually recently, and even here, I have been trying different methods of end-of-sentence punctuation.

In the past I would have used 'double' punctuation marks. ("...didn't have problems.".) For a quoted question ending a sentence, I would have punctuated as follows.
All he said was "Why are you asking me?".

This does look a bit busy but seems the most correct. There is a period or question mark at the end of the quoted sentence or question, followed by quotation marks and finally a period at the end of the whole sentence.

However, recently I heard that doing it the way Amy suggested is the correct way. But it seems strange to end a sentence with quotation marks. Also, I understand that the British recommend Butterfly's way.
I am prepared to defer to the experts if there is a strong consensus, so I am very interested to hear other comments.

If there is no agreement, maybe I will continue to do it my way. :wink:
A related question is whether it matters if one is quoting written or spoken words.

[Conchita]

We had a thread about quotation marks before, which might interest you -- and perhaps even mix things up a bit more (snigger,snigger) :

How to unquote 'nested' quotes at once?
http://www.english-test.net/forum/ftopic10172.html

[Tamara]

Oh, yes... I remember that my confusion with unpaired quotation marks…
Now I got used to seeing it … everyday in newspapers.

He said: “…..
“…. . ... .
“… ... .
“…. ... .”

For example, The Comet, 02 November 2006
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