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Quotation marks and direct quotations (“ ”)

There are two types of quotation mark: single quotes (‘ ’) and double quotes (" ").British usage has in the past usually preferred single quotes for ordinary use, but double quotes are now increasingly common. American usage has always preferred double quotes. The use of double quotes in fact offers several advantages. The main use of quotation marks is quite easy to understand; a pair of quotation marks encloses a direct quotation, that is, a repetition of someone's exact words.

Examples:

She is fond of declaring "I'm interested in psychology."

"My only friend", Nadia says, "is my classmate."

 The exact words of the person being quoted must be enclosed in quotes. Anything which is not part of those exact words must be placed outside the quotes, even if, as in the last example, this means using two sets of quotes because the quotation has been interrupted. A quotation is set off only by quotation marks. Apart from the addition of the quotation marks, a sentence containing a quotation is punctuated exactly like any other sentence. You should not insert additional punctuation marks into the sentence merely to warn the reader that a quotation is coming up. That’s what the quotation marks are for.

 Example:

She declares "I am not a nurse."

 This clear sentence wouldn't be absolutely improved by Adding more marks, so no punctuation mark should be used as it is not necessary.               On the other hand, the presence of quotation marks does not remove the necessity of using other punctuation which is required for independent reasons. Look again at these examples.

Examples:

1-     According to Thomas Edison, "Genius is one per cent inspiration and ninety-nine per cent perspiration."

2-     "My only friend", Nadia says, "is my classmate."

 The commas here are bracketing commas, used as usual to set off weak interruptions. Their presence has nothing to do with the presence of a quotation, which is itself properly marked off by the quotation marks.

Example:

He had one golden rule for handling men: "Tell the handsome ones they're smart, and tell the smart ones they're handsome."

 The colon here is doing what colons always do, not being used merely because a quotation follows: it is introducing an explanation of what comes before the colon. It is merely a coincidence that what follows the colon happens to be a quotation.

 The quotation inside the quote marks begins with a capital letter if it is a complete sentence, but not otherwise. Look once more at two versions of the Edison sentence:

1-     According to Thomas Edison, "Genius is one per cent inspiration and ninety-nine per cent perspiration."

2-     Thomas Edison declared that genius was "one per cent inspiration and ninety-nine per cent perspiration".

 The first quotation is a complete sentence and therefore begins with capital letter; the second is not a complete sentence and hence receives no capital.

Note: When using double quotes are rather unpleasant, single quotes are used instead. This is when the quotation contains an apostrophe, especially near the end.

Example:

The doctor announced defiantly "The patient's health depends on a successful surgery operation."

 With double quotes, the problem is solved.

When a quotation has another quotation inside it, the rule is to set off the internal quotation with the other type of quotation marks.

Example:

The president declared "Describing the unemployment figures as `disappointing' is an insult to the state."

If there is a long quotation which should be displayed in the middle of the page, it is not necessary to place quotes around it.

Example:

The punctuation should be defined as being governed two-thirds by rule and one-third by personal taste. I shall try not to stress the former to the exclusion of the latter, but I will not agree with those who apparently claim for themselves complete freedom to do what they please in the matter.

It would not be wrong to enclose this passage in quotes, but there is no need, since it has been clearly identified as a quotation.

In order to clarify something, sometimes you may find it necessary to interrupt a quotation. To do this you enclose your remarks in square brackets[ ] (never parentheses).

Example:

These two nations [Iran and Iraq] need to live in peace.

 The passage from which this sentence is taken had earlier made it clear which two nations the author was talking about. My quotation, however, does not make this clear, and so I have inserted the necessary information enclosed in square brackets.

There is one special interruption whose use you should be familiar with. This happens when the passage you are quoting contains a mistake of some kind, and you want to make it clear to your reader that the mistake is contained in the original passage, and has not been introduced by you. To do this, you use the Latin word sic, which means `thus', again enclosed in square brackets and immediately following the mistake. The mistake can be of any kind: a spelling mistake, a grammatical error, the use of the wrong word, or even a statement which is obviously wrong or silly.

Examples:

1. We have not received [sic] your letter.
2. The number of students are [sic] larger than usual.
3. The All Blacks won the match with a fortuitous [sic] try in the final minute.
4. The last dinosaurs died about 60,000 years ago [sic].

 (The word received is misspelled; the form are has been used where is is required; the word fortuitous, which means `accidental', has been used where fortunate was intended. The last statement is grotesquely false.) Note that the word sic is commonly italicized, if italics are available. And note also that sic is not used merely to emphasize part of a quotation: it is used only to draw attention to an error.

If you do want to emphasize part of a quotation, you do so by placing that part in italics, but you must show that you are doing this.

Example:

Many grammatical rules are just plain dumb and should be deleted from the grammar handbooks [emphasis added].

The comment in the quote shows that the italics in the original text were not present but that I have added them in order to draw attention to this part of the quotation. We shall consider the use of italics further.

If you want to quote parts of a passage while leaving out some bits, you do it by inserting a suspension (...) to represent a missing section of a quotation. If, as a result, you need to provide one or two extra words to link up the pieces of the quotation, you put those extra words inside square brackets to show that they are not part of the quotation. If you need to change a small letter to a capital, you put that capital inside square brackets. Here is an

Example:

Barbara was born nearly deaf, but...she was misdiagnosed as mentally retarded when she failed to learn to speak....[S]he was raised by a loving family...[but] only when she was thirty-one did a disbelieving doctor...prescribe for her a hearing aid. Able to hear, speak, at last, she began learning English.

 that, after the word “speak” in line two, there are four dots. The reason for this is that the suspension follows a full stop. In this circumstance, British usage usually favors the writing of four dots, while American usage commonly prefers to write only three. You are free to choose, but, as always, be consistent.

Finally, there remains the problem of whether to put other punctuation marks inside or outside the quotation marks. There are two schools of thought on this, which may be called the logical view and the conventional view.

The logical view holds that the only punctuation marks which should be placed inside the quotation marks are those that form part of the quotation, while all others should be placed outside. The conventional view, in contrast, insists on placing most other punctuation marks inside a closing quote, regardless of whether they form part of the quotation.

Examples:

1- "The only thing they have to believe", said Mr. Bahrami, "is courage itself."

2- The president condemned what he called "simple-minded decisions".

 And here they are punctuated according to the conventional view:

1. "The only thing they have to believe," said Mr. Bahrami, "is courage itself."
2. The president condemned what he called "simple-minded decision."

Note the placing of the comma after believe in the first example and of the final full stop in the second. These are not part of their quotations, and so the logical view places them outside the quote marks, while the conventional view places them inside, on the theory that a closing quote should always follow another punctuation mark.

You may follow your own preference in this matter, so long as you are consistent.

Scare quotes [ ]

Scare quotes are quotation marks placed around a word or phrase from which the writer wishes to distance himself because is considered that the word or phrase to be odd or inappropriate for some reason. Possibly it is regarded as too colloquial for formal writing; possibly it is thought to be unfamiliar or mysterious; possibly it is considered to be inaccurate or misleading; possibly it is believed to be just plain wrong. Sometimes They are used to express irony or sarcasm.

Examples:

The enemy was approaching "safe heaven" the religious city.

The point here is that the town has been officially declared a safe haven by the UN, whereas in fact, as the quote marks make clear, it is anything but safe.

Quotation marks in titles

Long ago, it was the customary to enclose all titles in quotation marks: titles of books, titles of poems, titles of films, titles of newspapers, and so on. This usage, however, has now largely disappeared, and the modern custom is to write most titles in italics. But in academic circles, at least, it is still usual to enclose the titles of articles in journals and magazines in quotes, as well as the titles of chapters in books. In British usage, however, we always use single quotes for this purpose, though American usage usually prefers double quotes here too.

It is still not exactly wrong to refer to a newspaper as `The Guardian', or to a book as `Uncle Tom's Cabin', but it is certainly old-fashioned now, and it is advised to use italics rather than quotation marks, except when you are writing by hand.

Talking about words

When we are talking about words, we use quotation marks. In this special use, all varieties of English normally use only single quotes, and not double quotes (though some Americans use double quotes even here). (This is another advantage of using double quotes for ordinary purposes, since this special use can then be readily distinguished.)

Examples:

1-      Women are mentally sentimental than men.

2-     `Women' is an irregular plural.

In the first example, we are using the word ` Women ' in the ordinary way, to refer to female human beings. In the second, however, we are doing something very different: we are not talking about any human beings at all, but instead we are talking about the word ` Women'. Placing quotes around the word we are talking about makes this clear.

Failure to make this useful orthographic distinction can, in rare cases, lead to absurdity.

Examples:

1- The word processor came into use around 1910.

2- The word `processor' came into use around 1910.

In speech, the phrases the word processor and the word `processor' sound quite different, because they are stressed differently. In writing, the stress difference is lost, and punctuation must step in to do the job.

Printed books usually use italics for citing words, rather than quotation marks. This practice is preferable to the use of quotes. In one circumstance, though, italics are not possible: when we are providing brief translations (or glosses, as they are called) for foreign words.

 Example:

The English word `thermometer' is derived from the Greek words thermos `heat' and metron `measure.

This example shows the standard way of mentioning foreign words: the foreign word is put into italics, and an English translation, if provided, follows in single quotes, with no other punctuation. Observe that neither a comma nor anything else separates the foreign word from the gloss.

You can even do this with English words.

Example:

The words stationary `not moving' and stationery `writing materials' should be carefully distinguished.

In this case, it is clearly necessary to use italics for citing English words, reserving the single quotes for the glosses.