It depends if the quotation is a question or statement. If the quote is a question, the quotation mark goes before the punctuation; if the quotation requires a period, the marks goes outside of the statement.
The correct punctuation for that sentence would be: "They all sang 'Happy Birthday' before she cut the cake." This includes putting 'Happy Birthday' in quotation marks and ending the sentence with a period.
after the quotation marks because if put before the quotation mark, that makes the quote seem like if it continues after what you wrote even if the quote has ended. period marks go before the quotation mark because that is ending a sentence... period.
You use a period inside of quotation marks when the quote you are using ends in a full stop and the sentence in which the quotation takes place is also ending.Example:She said, "He has not done his homework."
Quotation marks typically go before or after commas, depending on whether the comma is part of the quoted material. If the comma is part of the quoted material, it goes inside the quotation marks. If the comma is not part of the quoted material, it goes outside the quotation marks.
No, the quotation marks go after the comma or period.
In American English, commas and periods typically go inside quotation marks. Question marks and exclamation points go inside if they are part of the quoted material and outside if they are not. However, in British English, the punctuation goes outside the quotation marks unless it is part of the quoted material.
The most common usage of quotation signify one of three things: dialogue, titles, and quotes. For dialogue and quotes, there will almost always be a comma before the quotation starts. For titles, this won't always be the case.
In American Language they say like this: "I wonder why she did that." In British English, most punctuation goes outside of quotation marks. Example: She said, "I wonder what they're doing". But in American English, the opposite rule applies -- most punctuation goes inside of quotation marks. Example: She said, "I wonder what they're doing."
In dialogue, periods, commas, question marks, and exclamation points go inside quotation marks. (A semicolon goes outside quotation marks but isn't used much in dialogue, so you don't need to worry about it.)
Webster's New World Dictionary states the comma and the period are always enclosed within the quotation marks. The exclamation and question marks are placed within if they apply to the quotation and placed outside if they apply to the whole sentence. Example: "I'm leaving," he said, "but you may come with me." "Can I go too?" she asked. Didn't I say, "you may come with me"?
With NO exceptions, the comma and period should go BEFORE the closing quotation mark. Always.
British style places commas and periods that are not part of the quoted material outside of the quotation marks. Also, in technical applications or when discussing coding, punctuation that is not part of a text string should be placed outside of the quotes. Placing commas and periods inside the quotes implies that they are part of the string to be displayed.