Quotation marks show that words are someone else's: they enclose direct speech and word-for-word quotes, the titles of short works such as songs and articles, and words used in an unusual or doubtful sense. In American English, double quotation marks come first, single ones mark a quote inside a quote, and commas and periods go inside the closing mark.
Quotation marks are common in everyday writing. But how exactly are they used, and what do they say about the words between them? And which other rules do you have to keep in mind when you use them? This article answers these questions.
Double quotation marks
There is a difference between double and single quotation marks. Let's look at the double ones first: what they are used for, and how they work in a sentence.
Quotations
Direct speech and word-for-word quotations usually go between double quotation marks. In academic writing, they mark a word-for-word quote from another author's work. In stories and other fiction, they mark what the characters say.
Indirect speech, however, never goes between quotation marks. Likewise, a summary of someone else's research is not put in quotation marks, although you still name the source. (Citations: how to do them properly explains how.)
Examples:
- Direct speech: "You have to watch this movie. I'm sure you'll love it," she said.
- Indirect speech: She told me that I had to watch the movie and that I would surely love it.
- Word-for-word quote: In his first inaugural address in 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt said, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."
- Paraphrase: In his first inaugural address, Roosevelt told Americans that fear itself was the only thing they had to fear.
Titles
Quotation marks also set some titles apart from the rest of a sentence, so that the reader can see which words belong to the title. In American style, they are used for the titles of short works and of parts of a larger work: songs, articles, short stories, poems, chapters, and TV episodes. The titles of long works, such as books, albums, movies, TV series, and paintings, usually go in italics instead. The rules for italics has the details.
Examples:
- Nik Kershaw's "The Riddle" reached number 3 in the UK charts in 1984.
- Salvador Dalí painted The Persistence of Memory in 1931.
Words used in an unusual way
Quotation marks can also show that a word is used out of its usual context or in an unusual way. Often this suggests that the writer doubts the word, and it invites the reader to look for another meaning behind it. Writers call these "scare quotes."
Examples:
- They want to make us believe that they are "just friends."
- There is "fresh" fish on the menu today.
Punctuation and capital letters
When you use quotation marks, keep the other rules of punctuation in mind. These differ between American and British English; the rules here are the American ones. (For the other differences, see British or American English.)
Commas and periods always go inside the closing quotation mark. Question marks and exclamation points go inside only when they belong to the quote itself:
- She asked, "Are you coming?"
- Did he really say "never again"?
The details are in do punctuation marks go inside or outside of quotation marks.
Start a quoted sentence with a capital letter, even when the quote begins in the middle of your own sentence. A fragment that blends into your own sentence stays lowercase, as "never again" does above. When a speech tag interrupts a quoted sentence, the second part goes on in lowercase, because it is still the same sentence:
- "Nobody's perfect," Marcus said with a grin. "And I'm no exception."
- "Whenever I go there," Carrie told me, "they treat me like a queen."
When a quote or a speech runs over several paragraphs, you do not close the quotation marks at the end of each paragraph. Each new paragraph opens with a quotation mark, but the closing mark comes only at the very end of the quote:
He began in a festive voice. "I've been a big fan of Shakespeare's work ever since I was a little boy.
"Directing one of his plays is a great honor."
Single quotation marks
Single quotation marks do not do the same job as double ones, and in American English they are used much less often.
When a quote appears inside a quote, put the inner quote in single quotation marks. The rule for periods and commas stays the same: they go inside both the single and the double marks. In print, a thin space is sometimes added between the two marks so that the reader can tell them apart.
"When I went there," he said, still catching his breath, "there was a sign that said 'No service today.'"
In British English, many publishers do it the other way round: they use single quotation marks first and double ones for a quote inside a quote. Whichever style you follow, use it consistently. The Spell Checker checks punctuation as well as spelling and grammar, so it can help you spot a mark that is missing or in the wrong place.