Proper use of Quotation marks

[Henrietta]

In writing, are thoughts considered to be direct quotes?

For example: "The weather was surely going to be bad the next day," she thought.

OR

The weather was surely going to be bad the next day, she thought.

[Torsten]

Hi Henrietta,

Welcome to our forum. Most style guides will tell you that you can put thoughts into quotation marks or leave them out -- it's your decision.

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[SkiIucK]

Hello Henrietta,

Thank you for creating this topic, since I have been puzzled for quite a while now. I have a question - where to put the punctuation marks, within or outside the quotes, e.g. Being one of the best, he was known to his friends as 'eclipser.'/'eclipser'.

Regards

[Henrietta]

Hi SkiIucK:

In the USA, the period and comma go inside the quotation mark. I would write this as: Being one of the best, he was known to his friends as "eclipser."

I would also use the double quotation marks and not the single.

I would, however, like to see a second opinion on this.

[Henrietta]

[Torsten]

Hi Henrietta,

In addition to consulting grammar books it's always good to refer to a good style guide. If you google 'style guide quotation marks' you will get some interesting results.

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[Henrietta]

Hi Torsten,

Thanks for the tip on "style guides;" I googled them and have found them helpful already.

[Prezbucky]

I don't like the "period/comma/semicolon inside the quotation marks" rule when it applies to titles.

To me, the job of the quotation marks is to set the title apart, as in:

I'm reading a book titled "Kill Bill".

I prefer putting the period outside of the quotation marks because the period is not part of the title.

Most style manuals here would tell you to write it this way:

I'm reading a book titled "Kill Bill."

I disagree with that interpretation.
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Billie Jean is not my lover. Hee.

[Yankee]

[Prezbucky]

word!
_________________
Billie Jean is not my lover. Hee.