grammar/spelling

Hi, this is stupid/wrong place to ask question.

but what is the right way to say:

Our resolution is same as always: "blah blah blah".

or

Our resolution is the same as always: "blah blah blah".

or

Our resolution is, same as always: "blah blah blah".

or some other way?



if you could help

thank you

The second is correct.

Rycamor will clear this up if he sees it, but I don't think there's any technically correct answer there... I couldn't put my finger on the problem, so I asked my girlfriend who is aspiring to be an English teacher.

At first I thought it was because of the word "resolution", but that doesn't seem it.

She suggested that "as always" is just fluff. Whether it changes the technical merit of the sentence, I agree that this:

Our resolution is the same: "da da da."

at least SOUNDS better (which doesn't necessarily make it better).

BTW... if you actually do have quotes in something, the punctuation goes in them if they run to the end of the sentence (don't know if you actually have quotes in your real sentence or if they're just in the example, but figured I'd mention it):

He turned and said, "Give me liberty, or give me death."

This:

Our resolution is, same as always: "blah blah blah".

Should be:

Our resolution is, as always: "blah blah blah."

Personally I would choose this as the reader knows when to pause, thus can't screw up the meaning.

Here's a good description of the whole "period inside quote marks" thing.
http://www.telp.com/editing/styfaq1.htm


Keep in mind this only applies to commas and periods in the American system. Exclamation and question marks are always dependent on the content of the quoted material.

I personally prefer the British convention. It's more consistent and makes more sense.

If you really want the "always" part, put it at the beginning.

As always our resolution is: "1, 2, 3".