Usage of Quotation Marks
Rule 1. Use double quotation marks to set off a direct (word-for-word)
quotation.
Correct: "When will you be here?" he asked.
Incorrect: He asked "when I would be there."
Rule 2. Either quotation marks or italics are customary for titles:
magazines, books, plays, films, songs, poems, article titles, chapter titles,
etc.
Read-RULE 4 AGREEMENT OF SUBJECTS
Rule 3a. Periods and commas always go inside quotation marks.
Examples:
The sign said, "Walk." Then it said, "Don't Walk," then, "Walk," all within thirty seconds.
He yelled, "Hurry up."
The sign said, "Walk." Then it said, "Don't Walk," then, "Walk," all within thirty seconds.
He yelled, "Hurry up."
Rule 3b. Use single quotation marks for quotations within quotations.
Example: He said, "Dan cried, 'Do not treat me that way.' "
Note that the period goes inside both the single and double
quotation marks.
Read-MISTAKES IN USAGE OF APOSTROPHE
Rule 4. As a courtesy, make sure there is visible space at the start or
end of a quotation between adjacent single and double quotation marks. (Your
word processing program may do this automatically.)
He said, "Dan cried, 'Do not treat me that way.'"
He said, "Dan cried, 'Do not treat me that way.' "
Rule 5a. Quotation marks are often used with technical terms, terms used
in an unusual way, or other expressions that vary from standard usage.
Examples:
It's an oil-extraction method known as "fracking."
He did some "experimenting" in his college days.
I had a visit from my "friend" the tax man.
It's an oil-extraction method known as "fracking."
He did some "experimenting" in his college days.
I had a visit from my "friend" the tax man.
Rule 5b. Never use single quotation marks in sentences like the previous
three.
Incorrect: I had a visit from my 'friend' the tax man.
The single
quotation marks in the above sentence are intended to send a message to the
reader that friend is being used in a special way: in
this case, sarcastically. Avoid this invalid usage. Single quotation marks are
valid only within a quotation, as per Rule 3b, above.
Read-RULE 5 AGREEMENT OF SUBJECTS (NOUN) WITH VERB
Rule 6. When quoted material runs more than one paragraph, start each
new paragraph with opening quotation marks, but do not use closing quotation
marks until the end of the passage.
Example: She wrote: "I don't paint anymore. For a while I thought it
was just a phase that I'd get over.
"Now, I don't even try."
"Now, I don't even try."
