9. Quotation Marks ("...")

Quotation marks are punctuation marks and are also called inverted commas. They are used in pairs to set off direct speech, a quotation, and a few other things.

The other punctuation marks are used with quotation marks in the following way .

  • Full-stops  and commas  are placed before the last quotation mark.
  • Colons  and semi-colons  are placed outside of the end quotation mark.
  • Question marks  and exclamation marks  can be used inside or outside of the end quotation mark depending on how they are to be used.

A quotation mark is used to show the beginning and end of the exact words spoken.

Examples:

  • "Stop looking at my hair." she said to him.
    (A full stop  is placed before the last quotation mark .)
  • Mum said to me, "Eat your lunch quietly."
    (A comma  is used before the first quotation mark  to separate the quote from the rest of the sentence.)
  • "Those horses are mine," said John Wayne.

Use quotation marks to enclose a  quoted word, phrase or title.

Examples:

  • Word : What does 'anthropophagi' mean?
  • Phrase : He habitually says, 'money cannot buy love.'
  • Title : "War and Peace" is a novel by Leo Tolstoy.

A question mark that belongs to a quote is enclosed inside the quotation marks of the quote.

Examples:

  • Incorrect : She asked, "Do you like me"?
  • Correct : She asked, "Do you like me?"
  • Incorrect : Who is the girl who asked, "Do you like me?"?
  • Correct : Who is the girl who asked, "Do you like me?"
  • Incorrect : Did she actually say, "I don't want to see you again?"
  • Correct : Did she actually say, "I don't want to see you again"?

A quote or title within a quote is set off by single quotation marks. This quote is enclosed within the double quotation marks.

Examples:

  • He said to me, "I have read twice 'War and Peace' by Leo Tolstoy."
  • She said, “ ‘Ali’ is the name of my new pet camel.”