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Seminars &
email courses
When
to use
–
and not to use
–
quotation marks
by Stephen Wilbers
Author of 1,000 columns
published in the Minneapolis Star Tribune & elsewhere
Also see
“Quotation
marks make reading easy, writing hard.”
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Use quotation marks
to:
1. Mark direct quotations, as in He said, “Try your best.”
(Note that the first word of the quote begins with a capital letter.)
2. Mark titles of shorter works, such as articles, poems, and
chapters. (Use italics or underlining for titles of longer works, such as
books, plays, and films.)
3. Call attention to a word, phrase, or concept that is unfamiliar to
the reader or that is used in a nonstandard way, as in Based on empathy
rather than confrontation, “Rogerian persuasion” offers an alternative to
classical argumentation.
4. Call attention to a nontechnical term used in a technical sense,
as in Deconstructionism explores the meaning of the “signs” of language.
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Do NOT use quotation marks to:
5. Mark indirect quotations or paraphrases, as in Our boss said
that we should persevere. (But Our boss said, “Never say die!”)
Note that no comma is used to mark a paraphrase
after the word that.
6. Mark a cliché, proverbial saying, or other overused expression, as
in “Quality control” is our strength, or We need to do “our very
best.”
Sometimes called “winking,” this last example
reflects a tendency for writers to disown or apologize for worn-out language.
Although the quotation marks are intended to convey “I know this is lazy
wording I could have done better, but I didn’t have time,” in reality they tell
the reader “If you were more important, I would have taken time to find more
appropriate wording but you aren’t, and I didn’t.”
If you are going to use a familiar word or
expression, do so without apology.
7. Emphasize a particular word or phrase. Instead, use italics, as in
“I am absolutely certain.”
8. Mark yes and no when used alone, as in She said yes.
9. Mark a word or phrase
after the expression so-called, as in
She is the so-called leader of the group (not She is the so-called “leader”
of the group).
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Miscellaneous rules
and conventions:
10. Use single quotation marks only for quotes within quotes and for
headlines in newspapers and publications.
Avoid the common error of placing single quotation
marks around words or phrases and reserving double quotation marks for use
around complete sentences.
11. Place commas and periods inside quotation marks.
For a discussion of the “American style” (in which
commas and periods are placed within quotation marks) versus “the exacting
British system” (in which commas and periods are placed either inside or
outside quotation marks depending on whether they are part of the quotation),
see The Chicago Manual of Style (14th ed.), pages 160-61. Or see
“FAQ Punctuation” on my
Web page.
12. Place semicolons, colons, and question marks outside quotation marks,
unless they are part of the quotation.
Here, American usage follows the logic of the
British system, perhaps because these punctuation marks are considered more
obtrusive than commas and periods.
13. If the quotation ends with
question mark or exclamation point,
omit the first comma, as in “Do you want me to do this first?” Sally asked;
not “Do you want me to do this first?,” Sally asked. And not “Do you
want me to do this first?”, Sally asked.
14. For
quotation longer than one paragraph that is not set off
from the text in a block, use quotation marks at the beginning of each
paragraph and at the end of the final paragraph.
For example, in a three-paragraph quotation do not
use quotation marks at the end of the first and second paragraphs. Leave those
paragraphs “open” to indicate that the quotation continues.
15. If
one-sentence quotation is interrupted by a phrase of
attribution or signal phrase, use quotation marks around both parts of the
quotation, a comma after the first part of the quotation, and a comma after the
phrase of attribution, as in “I’ll finish this project,” Sally said to her
boss, “as soon as I get the figures from accounting.”
16. If a
two-sentence quotation is interrupted between the sentences
by a phrase of attribution, use quotation marks around both sentences, a comma
after the first sentence of the quotation, and a period after the phrase of
attribution, as in “I will finish this report on time,” Sally assured her
boss. “It will be on your desk by 2 p.m.” (Note that the first word of
the second quoted sentence begins with a capital letter.)
17. Set off long quotations as blocked or indented text. Long
quotations generally are defined as having more than 4 lines. (Some style
manuals define long quotations as having more than 40 words; The Chicago
Manual of Style defines long quotations as having more than 10 lines.) The
sentence introducing a long quotation ordinarily ends with a colon (rather than
a comma).
Present block quotations without quotation marks.
(Use quotation marks as you normally would for quotations within the block
quotation.)
Style manuals differ on whether block quotations
within a double-spaced document should be single-spaced or double-spaced, and
whether they should be indented from the left side margin only or from both
side margins. The Chicago Manual of Style and other academic style
manuals call for double-spacing and indenting from the left side margin only; The
Gregg Reference Manual, a standard guide for business writing, calls for
single-spacing and indenting from both side margins. To on-the-job writers, I recommend single-spacing and indenting
from the left side only.
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Quotation
marks make reading easy, writing hard
by Stephen Wilbers
Author of 1,000 columns
published in the Minneapolis Star Tribune & elsewhere
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| Quotation marks were invented to make life easier. Those neat little
squiggly marks provide an unobtrusive way to indicate a change in voice. They
help readers keep track of who’s doing the talking.
What would we do without them?
Like many contrivances invented to make things more convenient for some,
however, quotation marks make life more complicated for others – namely
writers.
The rules themselves are fairly straightforward: Use quotation marks to
enclose direct quotations (as in He said, “Try your best”), to enclose titles
of shorter works (such as articles, poems, and chapters – but use italics or
underlining for titles of longer works, such as books, plays, and films), to
call attention to a word, phrase, or concept that is unfamiliar to the reader
or that is used in a nonstandard way (as in Based on empathy rather than
confrontation, “Rogerian persuasion” offers an alternative to Classical
argumentation), and to call attention to a nontechnical term used in a
technical sense (as in Deconstructionism explores the meaning of the “signs” of
language).
On the other hand, do not use quotation marks to enclose indirect quotations
or paraphrases (as in Our boss urged us to persevere – but Our boss said, “Never
say die!”), to enclose yes and no when used alone (She said yes), to enclose a
word or phrase after the expression so-called (She is the so-called leader of
the group – not She is the so-called “leader” of the group),
to give emphasis
to a particular word or phrase (instead, use italics, as in “I am absolutely
certain”), and to enclose a cliché, proverbial saying, or other overused
expression (as in “Quality control” is our strength, or We need to do “our very
best”).
Sometimes called “winking,” this last example reflects a natural tendency
for writers to disown or apologize for worn-out language. Although the
quotation marks are intended to convey “I know this is lazy wording – I could
have done better, but I didn’t have time,” in reality they tell the reader “If
you were more important, I would have taken time to find more appropriate
wording – but you aren’t, and I didn’t.”
If you are going to use a familiar word or expression, have the courage to
do so without apology.
Despite their straightforward appearance, however, the rules for using
quotations become complicated in practice. Here are four guidelines to help
keep you out of trouble:
■Use single quotation marks only for quotes within quotes and for headlines
in newspapers and publications. Avoid the common error of placing single
quotation marks around words or phrases and reserving double quotation marks
for use around complete sentences.
■Place commas and periods inside quotation marks. For a discussion of the “American
style” (in which commas and periods are placed within quotation marks) versus “the
exacting British system” (in which commas and periods are placed either inside
or outside quotation marks depending on whether they are part of the
quotation), see The Chicago Manual of Style (14th ed.), pages 160-61, or see
Punctuation: FAQ.
■Place semicolons, colons, and question marks outside quotation marks, unless
they are part of the quotation. Here, American usage follows the logic of the
British system, perhaps because these punctuation marks are considered more
obtrusive than commas and periods.
■For a quotation longer than one paragraph, use quotation marks at the
beginning of each paragraph and at the end of the final paragraph. In a
three-paragraph quotation, for example, do not use quotation marks at the end
of the first and second paragraphs. Leave those paragraphs “open” to indicate
the quotation continues.
Despite occasional inconsistencies, there is logic behind most of the “rules.”
You just have to look hard to find it.
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