Why is the full stop outside the quotation marks?

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
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According to the news organisation, Wang gave a sworn statement to the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) in October saying: “I have personally been involved and participated in a series of espionage activities”.

Why is the full stop outside the quotation marks? With the verb ‘saying’, I think the full stop should be inside the quotation marks. Is there a typo?

Thanks.

Read more at https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/china-spy-defector-flee-australia-12119492

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Hi there. I’m wondering if this article was written by an Australian.

I did a bit of research and found the following:

In Australian English, the punctuation mark will usually come after the closing quotation mark , unless the quotation is also a complete sentence .

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Many thanks, Andrea.

“I have personally been involved and participated in a series of espionage activities”.

The part quoted is shown above. It is a complete sentence. Hence, based on Australian English, I think the full stop should be inside the quotation marks.

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Could somebody comment on my post above? Thanks.

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I’m not sure that there is such a thing as ‘Australian English’. The English language doesn’t have an official guiding institution to set standards so who exactly defines what ‘Australian English’ is?

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Thanks, Torsten.

Actually, my question is for response by Andrea, who mentioned Australian English.

This is what she said in her post above.

In Australian English, the punctuation mark will usually come after the closing quotation mark, unless the quotation is also a complete sentence .

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Have a read here:

https://www.griffith.edu.au/editorial-style-guide/punctuation

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What I would like to know is who exactly creates those grammar rules?

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Good question, Torsten. Would like to know as well. :thinking::roll_eyes:

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I’d like to share the following quote from the Voice of America website:

*Here is another fact: Of the ten most widely spoken languages, English is the only one that does not have a guiding institution to set language standards.

That means that while experts like to dictate language rules, they do not have any official or decisive power. So what we know and teach as “official” is really just what we are taught in school and continue to use in everyday situations.

There has been debate for centuries over whether a guiding institution is needed for English. But many argue it is not, and that English should remain a “democratic” language.

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