• Science • People
Non User
 • Locations • Timeline
Index: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Home > Quotation mark

 
:Symbol " is used to mean inch too.

Punctuation marks
apostrophe (' )
parentheses ( ( ) ),
brackets ( [ ] ); ( { } ); ( < > )
colon ( : )
comma ( , )
dash ( ‒ ); ( – ); ( — ); ( ― )
ellipsis ( … ) ( ... )
exclamation mark ( ! ); ( ¡ ! )
full stop/period ( . )
hyphen ( - ); ( ‐ )
interrobang ( ‽ )
question mark ( ? ); ( ¿ ? )
quotation marks ( ‘ ’ ); ( “ ” );

    ( ‚ ’ ); ( „ ” ); ( ‚ ‘ ); ( „ “ );
    ( ‹ › ); ( « » ); ( › ‹ ); ( » « );
    ( 「 」 ); ( 『 』 )

semicolon ( ; )
slash ( / ) and backslash ( \ )
space (   ) and interpunct ( · )
ampersand ( & )
asterisk ( * ) and asterism ( ⁂ )
dagger ( † ‡)
bullet ( •, more )
commercial at ( @ )
number sign ( # )
prime ( ′ ) and double prime (″)
tilde ( ~ )
underscore ( _ )
vertical bar / pipe ( | )
Quotation marks, also called quotes or inverted commas, are punctuation marks used in pairs to set off speech, a quotation, or a phrase. The pair consists of an opening quotation mark and a closing quotation mark, which may or may not be the same character, see below.

They have a variety of forms in different languages and in different media.

1 Usage

1.1 Quotations & speech

For quotations consisting of more than one paragraph, an opening quotation mark should appear at the beginning of each paragraph of the quoted text and a closing quotation mark at the end of the last paragraph only.

When the quoted text is interrupted, such as with the phrase he said, a closing quotation mark is used before the interruption, and an opening quotation mark after. Commas are also often used before and after the interruption.

British and United States style differs as to whether single or double quotation marks are used, but neither is an absolute rule, and a publisher's or even an author's style may take precedence. (The only absolute rule is consistency!) The American convention is for sentence punctuation to be included inside the quotation marks, even if the punctuation is not part of the quoted sentence:
‘Good morning, Dave,’ said HAL.
“Good morning, Dave,” said HAL.

The British style is to have the punctuation outside the quotation marks for small quoted phrases:

Someone shouted ‘Shut up!’.
Also called “plain quotes”, they are teardrops.

Despite what is sometimes written on discussions of punctuation, British positioning is the same as American in complete quoted speech:

‘Good morning, Dave,’ said HAL.

In some subject areas (such as software documentation and chemistry), it is conventional to include only what is part of the quoted phrase within the quotes, for clarity:

Enter the URL as “www.wikipedia.org”, the name as “Wikipedia”, and click "OK".

It is, however, rarely used in books, unless it is absolutely necessary:

You are now in the “X Window System.” Click the icon called “xterm,” go to the parent directory typing “cd ..”, and run the command “du -sh .”.

For speech within speech:

‘HAL said, “Good morning, Dave”,’ said Frank.
“HAL said, ‘Good morning, Dave’,” said Frank.

It is generally considered incorrect to use quotation marks for paraphrased speech:

WRONG: HAL said that “Everything was going extremely well.”
RIGHT: HAL said that everything was going extremely well.

In American English, commas and periods always go inside the quotation marks, no matter the circumstance:

He is called "HAL."
Also called “plain quotes,” they are teardrops.

Question marks and exclamation marks must rely on logic to determine whether they go inside or outside:

Did he say, "Good morning, Dave"?
No, he said, "Where are you, Dave?"

(Note that in the above sentences, only one punctuation mark is used at the end of each sentence. Regardless of its placement, only one end mark (?, !, or .) can end a sentence in American English, whereas in British English, the combination ?". is acceptable.)

In addition, end marks always go inside single quotes, too:

Dave said, "Did HAL say 'Good morning,' or did he not?"
"He said, 'Good morning.' Right?"

When a double quotation mark immediately follows a single quotation mark, a space is inserted.

So Dave actually said, "He said, 'Good morning' "?
Yes, he did say, "He said, 'Good morning.' "


Read more »

Topics: Quotation Mark, Usage, Quotations & Speech, Emphasis And Ironic...

Single marketA single market is a customs union with common policies on product regulation, and freedom of movement of all the factors of production (goods, services, capital and labour). Examples of single markets include the European Community (EC) and the EuropeanSingle-shotSingle shot pistols have existed since the early years of firearms. Many different configurations exist for igniting a cartridge, such a hammer (similar to a revolver) or firing pin striker (like a bolt action rifle). You can find single shot pistols in aSingle European SkyAs of 2001, air traffic management in the European Union is undertaken by member states, co-operating through EUROCONTROL, an intergovernmental organisation that includes both the EU member states and most other European states as well. European air space
Single-sideband modulationSingle-sideband modulation SSB is a refinement of the technique of amplitude modulation designed to be more efficient in its use of electrical power and bandwidth. It is closely related to vestigial sideband modulation (VSB) (see below). Amplitude modulatSingle document interfaceIn computer science, a single document interface (sometimes called SDI is a way to organize graphical applications into individual windows that are handled separately by the operating system's window manager. That usually means that each window is displaySingle stage to orbitA single-stage to orbit (or SSTO launcher describes an as-yet theoretical class of spacecraft designed to place a load into orbit as a self-contained vehicle without the use of multiple stages. An SSTO would take off, fly into orbit, and then return to la
Single UNIX SpecificationSingle transferable voteSingle-lens reflex camera
Single-frequency signalingSingle-mode optical fiberSingle non-transferable vote
Single-sideband emissionSingle occupant vehicleSingle hitch
Non User