Question marks and exclamation points with quotation marks

When question marks and exclamation points apply to the quoted words, put them inside the quotation marks. In the following sentence, the entire question is being quoted, so the question mark appears within the quotation marks.

Example sentence: Contrary to tradition, bedtime at my house is marked by “Mommy, can I tell you a story now?”

Example sentence: Several of the staffers had the same question: “What is the timetable for moving the main office from Scranton to Pittsburgh?”

When question marks and exclamation points apply to the sentence as a whole, put them outside the quotation marks. The following sentence is a question—Have you heard the old proverb?—containing a quotation.

Example sentence: Have you heard the old proverb “Do not climb the hill until you reach it”?

Example sentence: Can you believe that Rollins wrote that “the Phillies are the team to beat”?

Exercises:

Quotation marks 1

Quotation marks 2

Related topic:

MLA note on a citation ending with a question mark or an exclamation point