In non-fiction, some British publishers may permit placing punctuation that is not part of the person’s speech inside the quotation marks but prefer that it be placed outside. When quoted text is interrupted, such as with the phrase he said, a closing quotation mark is used before the interruption, and an opening quotation mark after. Likewise, the typographic opening single quotation mark is sometimes used to represent the ʻokina while either the typographic closing single quotation mark or the neutral single quotation mark may represent the prime symbol.
- With regard to quotation marks adjacent to periods and commas, there are two styles of punctuation in widespread use.
- These two styles are most commonly referred to as “American” and “British”, or sometimes “typesetters’ quotation” and “logical quotation”.
- This is because indirect speech can be a paraphrase; it is not a direct quote, and in the course of any composition, it is important to document when one is using a quotation versus when one is just giving content, which may be paraphrased, and which could be open to interpretation.
- The typographic closing double quotation mark and the neutral double quotation mark are similar to – and sometimes stand in for – the ditto mark and the double prime symbol.
- In contrast to the main text, a block quotation might also have a bigger right-hand margin, be in a smaller or otherwise different font, or have reduced line spacing.
Quotation dash
These same systems often drew the backtick (the free standing character U+0060 ` GRAVE ACCENT) as an ‘open quote’ glyph (usually a mirror image so it still sloped in the direction of a grave accent). The Unicode standard introduced a separate character U+2015 ― HORIZONTAL BAR to be used as a quotation dash. In addition to being standard for second level quotes, guillemet quotes are sometimes used as first level quotes in headings and titles, but almost never for ordinary text in paragraphs. Guillemet marks pointing inwards are used for highlights and in case a quotation occurs inside a quotation.
If you’re quoting two or more paragraphs, place opening quotation marks at the beginning of each new paragraph. As with a colon, place a semicolon outside quotation marks regardless of whether it’s before or after a quotation. Place a comma inside the quotation mark if using a reporting clause after the quote. This signals the beginning and end of direct speech or quoted material and helps differentiate it from the surrounding text.
How to Use Quotation Marks: Rules and Examples
In Windows, if it is necessary to follow a space with a closing quotation mark when Smart Quotes is in effect, it is usually sufficient to input the character using the Alt code shown above rather than typing ” or ‘. Straight quotation marks are also retronymically called dumb quotes (“…”). There is generally no space between an opening quotation mark and the following word, or a closing quotation mark and the preceding word. In journals and newspapers, quotation mark double/single use often depends on the individual publication’s house style. British usage does vary, with some authoritative sources such as The Economist and The Times recommending the same usage as in the US, whereas other authoritative sources, such as The King’s English, Fowler’s, and New Hart’s Rules, recommend single quotation marks. For example, the journal Language of the Linguistic Society of America requires that the closing quotation mark precede the period or comma unless that period or comma is “a necessary part of the quoted matter”.
- During the Renaissance, quotations were distinguished by setting in a typeface contrasting with the main body text (often italic type vs roman).
- In some Baroque and Romantic-period books, they would be repeated at the beginning of every line of a long quotation.
- If the encoding of the document supports direct representation of the characters, they can be used, but doing so can cause difficulties if the document needs to be edited by someone who is using an editor that cannot support the encoding.
- Less commonly, single quotation marks are used in place of parentheses, in which case the translation is not set off with commas.
- Although the word is the same, “Camelot” the song takes quotation marks because it’s part of a larger work—namely, a full-length show called Camelot.
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Using a breakable space of any kind often results in a quotation mark appearing alone at the beginning of a line, since the quotation mark is erroneously treated as an independent word. Even more commonly, many people put a normal (breaking) space inside the quotation markscitation needed because the non-breaking space cannot be accessed easily from the keyboard, or because they are not aware of this typographical refinement. Alternatively, an en-dash followed by a (non-breaking) space can be used to denote the beginning of quoted speech, in which case the end of the quotation is not specifically denoted (see section Quotation dash below). Although not generally common in the Netherlands any more, double angle (guillemet) quotation marks are still sometimes used in Belgium. The King’s English in 1908 noted that the prevailing British practice was to use double marks for most purposes, and single ones for quotations within quotations.
The quotation mark is typically used to denote inches, and the apostrophe denotes feet. Scare quotes in writing are the origin of the air quotes gesture in in-person speech. Scare quotes are used to show that the writer doubts the validity of a word. They indicate a quotation or direct speech and set words and passages apart from the rest of the text.
Quotations and speech
If a quoted question ends in midsentence, the question mark replaces a comma. The placement spinorhino casino of question marks with quotation marks follows logic. To add quotation mark to a word list please sign up or log in.
Usage
Scare quotes generally appear as quotation marks around a single word or sometimes a phrase. Spanish uses angled quotation marks (comillas latinas or angulares), with no space between the quotation mark and the quoted material. In case of quoted material inside a quotation, rules and most noted style manuals prescribe the use of different kinds of quotation marks. North American printing usually puts full stops and commas (but not colons, semicolons, exclamation or question marks) inside the closing quotation mark, whether it is part of the original quoted material or not. Nevertheless, while other languages do not insert spaces between the quotation marks and the word(s) quoted, the French usage does insert them, even if they are narrow spaces.
With narration of direct speech, both styles retain punctuation inside the quotation marks, with a full stop changing into a comma if followed by attributive matter, also known as a speech tag or annunciatory clause. In the United States, the prevailing style is called American style, whereby commas and periods are almost always placed inside closing quotation marks. Periods and commas that are part of the person’s speech are permitted inside the quotation marks regardless of whether the material is fiction.
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Also note that, as a courtesy, there is visible space between adjacent single and double quotation marks. Use single quotation marks for quotations within quotations. If a question is within the quoted material, a question mark should be placed inside the quotation marks. Less commonly, single quotation marks are used in place of parentheses, in which case the translation is not set off with commas. Because the quoted material is set off from the main text, it is not necessary to use quotation marks.
The use of English quotation marks is increasing in Spanish;citation needed the El País style guide, which is widely followed in Spain, recommends them. They are the Latin tradition quotation marks, normally used by typographers, and are also the usual style in reference sources, as well as on some websites dedicated to the Portuguese language. In Portugal, angular quotation marks (ex. «quote») are traditionally used. The quotation marks end at the last word of spoken text (rather than extending to the end of the paragraph) when the final part is not spoken. In general, quotation marks are extended to encompass as much speech as possible, including not just unspoken text such as “he said” (as previously noted), but also as long as the conversion extends. Such insertion of continuation quotation marks was rigidly maintained, even at a word hyphenation break.
Quotes indicating verbal irony, or other special use, are sometimes called scare quotes. If such a passage is further quoted in another publication, then all of their forms have to be shifted up by one level. Sometimes quotations are nested in more levels than inner and outer quotation. They were used to quote direct speech as early as the late sixteenth century, and this practice became more common over time.
Also, any punctuation otherwise required by the structure of the sentence is placed outside the single quotation marks. Using a period elsewhere inside quotation marks is correct if your quoted material includes multiple sentences. For example, if you’re quoting a passage that already features a quote, use double quotation marks for the main quote and single quotation marks for the quote within a quote. In American English, single quotation marks are used only for quotes that appear inside other quotes. One of the most common points of confusion with quotes is when to use single versus double quotation marks.
In Australia, double quotes are preferred for indicating speech, except in the government and corporate sectors, where the preference is for single quotes. The typographic closing double quotation mark and the neutral double quotation mark are similar to – and sometimes stand in for – the ditto mark and the double prime symbol. Opening and closing quotation marks may be identical in form (called neutral, vertical, straight, typewriter, or “dumb” quotation marks), or may be distinctly left-handed and right-handed (typographic or, colloquially, curly quotation marks); see Quotation mark § Summary table for details. Although the word is the same, “Camelot” the song takes quotation marks because it’s part of a larger work—namely, a full-length show called Camelot. Periods and commas ALWAYS go inside quotation marks.
The Chicago Manual of Style suggests 100 words or more as a general rule, but offers many factors other than length to be considered. How do you determine if your quotation is short (allowing it to be incorporated into the main text) or long (requiring a block quotation)? In contrast to the main text, a block quotation might also have a bigger right-hand margin, be in a smaller or otherwise different font, or have reduced line spacing. Style varies, but at a minimum a block quotation should have a bigger left-hand margin than the main text.