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”.
If a quoted question ends in midsentence, the question mark replaces a comma. The placement of question marks with quotation marks follows logic. To add quotation mark to a word list please sign up or log in.
Introducing the quoted material: when to use a comma, colon, period, or no punctuation at all.
The American style is used by most newspapers, publishing houses, and style guides in the United States and, to a lesser extent, Canada as well. Some American style guides specific to certain specialties also prefer the British style. Hart’s Rules and the Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors call the British style “new” quoting. Both systems have the same rules regarding question marks, exclamation points, colons, and semicolons.
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.
Quotation mark
This usage can be confused with ironic or altered-usage quotation, sometimes with unintended humor. Quotation marks can also set off a nickname embedded in an actual name, or a false or ironic title embedded in an actual title; for example, Nat “King” Cole, Frank “Chairman of the Board” Sinatra, or Simone Rizzo “Sam the Plumber” DeCavalcante. Quotation marks, rather than italics, are generally used for the titles of shorter works. A publisher’s or author’s style may take precedence over regional general preferences. When this practice was abandoned, the empty margin remained, leaving the modern form of indented block quotation.
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.
- With regard to quotation marks adjacent to periods and commas, there are two styles of punctuation in widespread use.
- Scare quotes in writing are the origin of the air quotes gesture in in-person speech.
- 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.
- Since these continuation marks are obsolete in French, there is no support for automatic insertion of continuation guillemets in HTML or CSS, nor in word-processors.
- The curved quotation marks (“66–99”) usage, “…”, was exported to some non-Latin scripts, notably where there was some English influence, for instance in Native American scripts and Indic scripts.
- 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.
To signal the titles of creative works
(1) To identify previously spoken or written words. This includes individual words, phrases, or separate clauses. However, no capitalization is necessary if you’re not quoting a complete sentence. In that case, it begins with a lowercase letter, even if the original sentence begins with a capitalized letter.
Meaning of quotation mark in English
Since the 2000s, the plain quotes have become more common.citation needed The 2013 revision of the SI-1452 standard for Hebrew keyboard, available since 2012 in Windows 8 and in desktop Linux systems, supports both systems, as does the Gboard keyboard for touchscreen devices. In Israel, the traditional practice in printing and handwriting is to use „low-high” quote marks. Since these continuation marks are obsolete in French, there is no support for automatic insertion of continuation guillemets in HTML or CSS, nor in word-processors. With this older style there was also not necessarily any distinction of shape between the opening and closing guillemets; both often pointed to the right (as today’s French closing guillemets do).citation needed A line-break should not be allowed between the en-dash and the first word of the quotation. The symbol used as the left (typographical) quote in English is used as the right quote in Germany and Austria and a “low double comma” „ (not used in English) is used for the left quote.
- Periods and commas are placed outside the prime and double prime marks.
- Historically, support for curved quotes was a problem in information technology, primarily because the widely used ASCII character set did not include a representation for them.f
- If a quotation functions as a subject or object in a sentence, it might not need a comma.
- Style varies, but at a minimum a block quotation should have a bigger left-hand margin than the main text.
- (2) Quotation marks to signify so-called or alleged
- The usage of a pair of marks, opening and closing, at the level of lower case letters was generalized.
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.
Both quotation marks and italics are used for the titles of works, but certain types of works use only quotes, and others use only italics. Use sic within quotations to indicate that any spelling, punctuation, grammatical errors, or unusual phrases are part of the original quoted material. Place a comma inside the quotation marks at the end of a quoted phrase. If you’re using the same word, sentence, or phrase as another author, put those words between quotation marks.
quotation mark American Dictionary
“The best investments today”, according to Smith, “are commodities and emerging-market stocks”. “The best investments today,” according to Smith, “are commodities and emerging-market stocks.” Find the quotation you need on our sister site funnyQuotation.com. (2) Quotation marks to signify so-called or alleged (4) To show that a word refers to the word itself not the word’s meaning.
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 spinorhino casino 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.
The usage of a pair of marks, opening and closing, at the level of lower case letters was generalized. Until then, literal quotations had been highlighted or not at the author’s discretion. Our copyists place this sign in the books of the people of the Church, to separate or to indicate the quotations drawn from the Holy Scriptures. Anyone in your organization can quickly create documents, presentations, and worksheets within a single, unified app experience. One can skirt these limitations, however, by using the HTML character codes or entities or the other key combinations in the following table.
Primary quotations are orthographically distinguished from secondary quotations that may be nested within a primary quotation. An exception may be made when writing fiction, where the first comma may be placed before the first closing quote. These two styles are most commonly referred to as “American” and “British”, or sometimes “typesetters’ quotation” and “logical quotation”.