Use quotation marks (“ ”) at the beginning and ending of words, phrases, or sentences to show which words belong to you (the writer) and which belong to someone else.
The term double quotes is synonymous with quotation marks. You’ll learn about single quotes (‘ ’) later.
The most common use of quotation marks is to show readers the exact words a person said, in the exact order the person spoke them. This is called a direct quotation. Note the difference in these sentences:
Amber Posey said, “Give me the book.”
Amber Posey said to give her the book.
Carla Fenwick replied, “I don’t have the book.”
Carla Fenwick replied she didn’t have the book.
The same meaning is conveyed either way, but the quotation marks tell readers the words are stated exactly as they were spoken.
One of the most common mistakes that is made with quotation marks is to use them immediately after a word such as said or asked. Quotation marks are used correctly in sentences like these:
Harry asked, “Anna, will you pass me the butter?”
Anna said, “We don’t have any butter.”
The mistake comes in sentences that are indirect quotations (that is, the words after said, asked, and so on aren’t the exact words, in the exact order, that the speaker used).
Consider this sentence, which gives the same information about Harry and Anna:
Harry asked if Anna would pass him the butter.
The mistake often made is to punctuate that sentence this way:
Harry asked, “If Anna would pass him the butter.”
But the words inside the quotation marks aren’t the exact words, in the exact order, that Harry used. Since these aren’t the exact words, quotation marks can’t be used.
Grammar Facts
The quotation mark can be traced back to the second century when a librarian named Aristarchus created the symbol while editing the works in the Library of Alexandria. He placed “diples” alongside text that was noteworthy. Later in the seventh century the mark would be used in the books of churchmen to separate the citations from Sacred Scripture from their own.
Every time you change speakers, indent and start a new paragraph, even if the person quoted is just saying one word. This is the signal for readers to keep straight who’s saying what. Take a look at this sequence:
When the telephone rang, Nick picked up the receiver and said, “Hello.” Nora screamed into her end of the phone, “Who is this?” “Nick.” “Nick who?” “Well, who is this?” “You know darned well who this is. You’ve sure called me often enough to know the sound of my voice!” “Huh?” “That’s right. I’m hopping mad, and you know why.”
Are you confused yet? Written that way, readers can’t follow who’s saying what. The dialogue should start a new paragraph each time the speaker changes. Then readers can identify the speaker. This is the way the passage should be written:
When the telephone rang, Nick picked up the receiver and said, “Hello.”
Nora screamed into her end of the phone, “Who is this?”
“Nick.”
“Nick who?”
“Well, who is this?”
“You know darned well who this is. You’ve sure called me often enough to know the sound of my voice!”
“Huh?”
“That’s right. I’m hopping mad, and you know why.”
If you’re quoting more than one sentence from the same source (a person or a manuscript), put the closing quotation marks at the end of the speaker’s last sentence of that paragraph only, not at the end of each sentence. This helps readers know that the same person is speaking. For example:
At the diner, Leslie said, “I’ll start with a cup of coffee and a large orange juice. Then I want scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast for breakfast. May I get home fries with that?”
No quotation marks come after juice or breakfast. That tells readers that Leslie hasn’t finished speaking.
If you’re quoting more than one paragraph from the same source (a person or a manuscript), put beginning quotation marks at the start of each paragraph of your quote and closing quotation marks only at the end of the last paragraph. This lets readers know that the words come from the same source, without any interruption. Take a look at this example:
The ransom letter read:
“We’ll expect to receive the ransom money by this afternoon. You can get it from your Grandfather Moss. We know he’s loaded.
“Tell him not to try any funny stuff. We want the money in unmarked bills, and we don’t want any police involved.”
At the end of the first paragraph the word loaded isn’t followed by quotation marks, and quotation marks are placed at the beginning and end of the second paragraph. This tells readers that the same person is speaking or the same source is being quoted. The closing quotation marks designate when the quotation ends.
Use quotation marks to enclose the titles of short works (short poems, short stories, titles of articles from magazines or newspapers, essays, chapters of books, songs, and episodes of television or radio programs):
To get the information for my book, I’m consulting a chapter called “The Art of Detection” from the book How Mysteries Are Written.
Mary Lynn and Pat decided their favorite song is “Love Letters,” from the CD ABC and XYZ of Love.
If you’re using slang, technical terms, or other expressions outside their normal usage, enclose the words or phrases in quotation marks (alternately, you may put the words or phrases in italics):
My grandmother didn’t know if it was a compliment or an insult when I described my best friend as being “phat.”
In computer discussion groups, what does “start a new thread” mean?
Using the quotation marks lets readers know which particular words or phrases you’re emphasizing.
Remember that periods and commas go inside closing quotation marks; colons and semicolons go outside closing quotation marks. If you examine a work closely, you’ll see that following this rule doesn’t really look right (and it isn’t adhered to in British English), but it’s the correct punctuation in the United States. Look at this sentence:
I was reading the short story “Scared Out of My Wits,” but I fell asleep in spite of myself.
See the comma after Wits and before the closing quotation marks? The actual title of the story is “Scared Out of My Wits” (there’s no comma in the title). However, the sentence continues and demands a comma, so U.S. English requires a comma to be placed inside the closing quotation marks. Now look at this sentence:
I was reading the short story “Scared Out of My Wits”; I didn’t find it to be scary at all.
The semicolon is outside the closing quotation marks after Wits.
Deciding on placement of the two other end marks of punctuation—the question mark and the exclamation mark—is tricky: These go either inside or outside the closing marks, depending on what’s being quoted. Take, for instance, a question mark. It goes inside the closing quotation if what is being quoted is a question:
Jica said, “Did you fall asleep reading the story?”
The words that Jica said form the question, so the question mark goes inside the closing quotation mark to show readers what she said. Look at this example:
Pat shouted, “I hope you know what you’re doing!”
Again, the words that Pat said form the exclamation, so the exclamation mark goes inside the closing quotation marks. Now take a look at this example:
Did Martha say, “You must have fallen asleep”?
Now the words that Martha said (“You must have fallen asleep”) don’t form a question; the sentence as a whole does. The question mark goes outside the closing quotation marks to show readers that.
Martha actually said, “You must be right”!
Again, the words that Martha said don’t form an exclamation; the sentence as a whole does (probably expressing surprise). The exclamation mark goes outside the closing quotation marks to show readers that.
What do you do when both the sentence as a whole and the words being quoted form a question or an exclamation? Use only one end mark (question mark or exclamation mark) and put it inside the closing quotation marks. Look at this example:
Did I hear Martha say, “Who called this afternoon?”
In the United States, single quotation marks are used for a quotation within a quotation:
“Mark Lester said, ‘I’ll be fine,’ but then he collapsed,” cried Marrin Wright.
“I’m reading the story ‘Plaid Blazers and Other Mysteries,’ ” said Tara Hoggard.
Do you see that what Mark said (“I’ll be fine”) and the name of the short story (“Plaid Blazers and Other Mysteries”) would normally be enclosed with double quotation marks? But since these phrases come inside material that’s already in double marks, you show readers where the quotation (or title) begins by using a single quotation mark.
When not to use quotation marks with quotes: If you’re using the writing guidelines from the Modern Language Association (MLA) or the American Psychological Association (APA), keep in mind that these groups have specific rules for block quotations (passages of a certain length). In spite of the fact that you’re quoting, you don’t use quotation marks. You do, however, have a definite format for letting readers know that the material you’re citing is verbatim from the original text. Consult the specific guidelines for each group to see how to format this material.