Thread: Tell me about quotation marks

Use the double prime symbol whenever you're quoting something, and the single prime if that quote is quoting something.

Example: Bob said, "The weatherman said, 'There's a 50% chance of rain tonight.' Well duh! Either it will rain, or it won't!"

Ok thanx, and what if I want to show that some word is not meant to be taken literally or that it's irony? Such words are usually framed with quotation marks.

There's some correct convention, along the lines of,
If you're quoting what someone said, use one
If you're quoting what someone wrote, use the other

or somesuch
short of higher education English, just use whatever

But what if I'm not quoting anybody?

I have a habit of putting my own words in quotation marks... It's done when the word used is not entirely precise usually, to show just that. I can't even think of an example at the moment, it's so automatic...

OK here's an example taken from a book:

The circumstances under which people considered themselves to be their 'real self' differ.

Here 'real self' is not a quotation, it's how the author wrote out her own thought. Should you always use single quotation marks in this case?

I always use double quotes, when writing, when quoting someone or to indicate something is "so-called".

Ann said: "That man is so attractive, I would love to marry him!" She was referring to Clark Kent, a.k.a. "Superman" or the "Man of steel".

To show exaggeration when writing (on paper) I use italics to indicate exaggeration. I also use them to emphasize points.
On-line I tend to *'s instead.

The only time I use a single quote is when I'm paraphrasing something.
John 3:16 says: "For God loved the world so much that he gave his only begotten Son, in order that everyone exercising faith in him might not be destroyed but have everlasting life."
As compared to:
What does that verse say again? Isn't something like: 'God loved us so much that he sent Jesus?' and that 'if we believe in him we'll be saved?'

I paraphrase the Bible a lot, so that's the only example I could think of right now lol.

The question I'd like settled once and for all is how to place periods and commas in relation to quotation marks. Example:

He said it was an "accident," but we all know the truth.

as opposed to

He said it was an "accident", but we all know the truth.

I have the impression that putting the comma within quotation marks is something my teachers have been teaching me since I first started school, but in more distinguished writings it seems that having the comma outside of the marks is perfectly acceptable.

The only universally accepted rule I'm aware of is that the comma is put within the quotes for story dialogue:

"This whole comma thing is ridiculous," said Lëzen.

Anyone know WTH's up with all this?

I wish I did know. That has confused me a great deal as well. I've seen question and exclamation marks both outside and inside quotes as well.

It's all simple.

1. Single and double quotes.

Both are perfectly interchangeable. Use either set for both quoting and indirect meaning. Just make sure you match them. As in, if you open double quotes, you close double quotes. Also, if you need to use quotes inside quotes, use the opposing type from the ones you have on the outside (double outside, single inside).

2. Punctuation inside and outside quotes.

This depends partly on direct speech but mostly on American and British English differences.

British English uses punctuation outside quotes, unless it's specifically part of the quoted content, which is often the case in direct speech. However, otherwise, the punctuation is placed outside quotes.

American English places punctuation marks inside quotes.

3. I like pie. That is all.

Single quotation marks do not interpret, and double quotation marks do. So "Hello, $name" will include the name, while 'Hello, $name' will print as is. I suck

Originally Posted by Zhaylin

I wish I did know. That has confused me a great deal as well. I've seen question and exclamation marks both outside and inside quotes as well.

? and ! go inside the quotes whenever they're a part of the quote, and outside when they're part of a sentence with a quote.

ex
Did you say "Jello" or "Jelly"?
vs
He said, "What are you doing?"

I think that's it anyway. Grammar is confusing.

As far as I've seen, all punctuation is supposed to be inside the quotes. I don't know if this changes for other countries, (I'm in North America) but I've been told by english teachers here: "Always put your punctuation inside your quotes," even if it's not part of what you're quoting.

As for single and double quotations, single quotation marks are only, typically, used inside quotations that cite other quotations; a quote within a quote. In a programmer's world, single quotations are used to identify individual letters. However, is it incorrect to say my name is spelled with an 'I?' Is that what it would say in the "Book Of English Grammar?" In the words of a friend of mine: "English is the craziest language. Even english teachers will probably sometimes say: 'I'm not sure.'"

Note: Everything above is correct according to North American grammar standards (or at least what I know of them). Clever aren't I?

EDIT: If this kind of information is required for an essay or other similar purpose, I'd recommend asking your instructor. It may seem silly, but they're the one who will grade it. So it's their opinion that matters.

It took me 5 fucking minutes to figure out what the difference was between the two things in your post.

lol Exo.

Thanks Demon! Makes a lot of sense.

Vamp, great post... the changes between one teacher to another annoy me as does the change brought on by time (?).
When I was a kid, I was taught to say (for example): "The food was Jesus'." But it was SAID like Jesus-es. Now we're not supposed to add the "-es" at the end? That just sounds silly.

Originally Posted by Zhaylin

lol Exo.

Thanks Demon! Makes a lot of sense.

Vamp, great post... the changes between one teacher to another annoy me as does the change brought on by time (?).
When I was a kid, I was taught to say (for example): "The food was Jesus'." But it was SAID like Jesus-es. Now we're not supposed to add the "-es" at the end? That just sounds silly.

That ownership apostrophe hasn't changed. It's still grammatically correct to write: "Jesus' beard" rather than: "Jesus's beard." It's things like this that make me glad english is my first language. I couldn't imagine trying to learn some of these nonsensical "rules" at the same time as learning the language as a whole.

EDIT: According to Wikipedia, placing punctuation in or outside quotations is different between American and British standards.
British - The sign read: "Hotel".
American - The sign read: "Hotel."

Was my post invisible?

Originally Posted by Merlock

It's all simple.

1. Single and double quotes.

Both are perfectly interchangeable. Use either set for both quoting and indirect meaning. Just make sure you match them. As in, if you open double quotes, you close double quotes. Also, if you need to use quotes inside quotes, use the opposing type from the ones you have on the outside (double outside, single inside).

2. Punctuation inside and outside quotes.

This depends partly on direct speech but mostly on American and British English differences.

British English uses punctuation outside quotes, unless it's specifically part of the quoted content, which is often the case in direct speech. However, otherwise, the punctuation is placed outside quotes.

American English places punctuation marks inside quotes.

3. I like pie. That is all.

I agree, if I understand you correct. Commas are used to separate direct speech or quoted elements from the rest of a sentence. A comma is not always needed in direct speech if another punctuation mark serves to separate the quoted element from the rest of the sentence. For example:

"Merlock has arrived," Adam exclaimed, "and late as usual."

I always use double for quoting text/speech, or single for anything else, but consistency is key as you say.

Bottom thinks he would make a wonderful lion: 'I will roar, that I will make the Duke say "Let him roar again let him roar again!"'

Oh great, so many answers I learnt a lot from you lot!

Originally Posted by Vampyre

According to Wikipedia, placing punctuation in or outside quotations is different between American and British standards.
British - The sign read: "Hotel".
American - The sign read: "Hotel."

Well, the first one makes a lot more sense to me.

Originally Posted by Adam

Bottom thinks he would make a wonderful lion: 'I will roar, that I will make the Duke say "Let him roar again let him roar again!"'

I think that when you have a quote inside of a quote, you use doubles first and then singles for any quotes inside a quote. So it would go "I will roar, that I will make the Duke say 'Let him roar again let him roar again!'"

Originally Posted by Demon Parasite

I think that when you have a quote inside of a quote, you use doubles first and then singles for any quotes inside a quote. So it would go "I will roar, that I will make the Duke say 'Let him roar again let him roar again!'"

I don't agree. If the quoted material contains some direct speech, the direct speech should be bounded by double speech marks, not the original quote.

^No, DP is right, that's the way I've seen it everywhere. It goes like this - if there is book-like dialogue, and one one of the characters quotes something, the dialogue is in doubles and the quote within the dialogue is in singles:

"She didn't say where she was going, all she said was 'Wish me luck.'"

If you're quoting both dialogue and non-dialogue, the non-dialogue gets the doubles and the dialogue then gets the singles:

"He smiled wanly. 'She can sure be a pain in the neck.' Then, without warning, the ninjas attacked..."

If you're quoting non-dialogue, dialogue, and there's a quote within said dialogue...then I have no fecking clue.