Quotation marks Archives

Writing Tip 151: Misleading Quotation Marks

Beware. Coffee is "hot." (Or is it?) — Beware. Coffee is “hot.” (Or is it?)

Quotation marks never create emphasis. They only cause confusion. Are you using yours properly?

It makes me smile every time I see bungled quotation marks on store signage, business marketing materials, or even in personal communications. Please don’t continue this downward trend. If you want to emphasize your language, use bold, italics, an underline, or even surround something with *asterisks* if you must, but do not—I beg you—use quotation marks.

Besides where to put them around other punctuation and when to use single versus double quotes (which we’ve already covered), here’s …More

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Writing Tip 101: Single vs. Double Quotation Marks

single vs. double quotation marks - sad dog — Sigh. So much to teach, so little time.

Sometimes, we are so clever we invent grammar rules that don’t actually exit. Then wonderful **insert sarcasm here** sites like YahooAnswers allow readers to vote on correct answers where the winner isn’t necessarily correct just popular. When uninformed Wikipedia writers also jump on the popular-but-not-actually-correct bandwagon, we’re in trouble.

This week, I was asked about the use of single vs. double quotation marks, a question that comes up fairly often and a rule that is often confused. But you know what? This answer is easy—so easy in fact that I can write it in nine words:

Always use double quotes unless inside of another quote.More

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Writing Tip 26: “Quote us on this”

Punctuation can be a prickly adversary. Add quotation marks into the equation, and some people just close their eyes, hit the keyboard, and let commas and exclamation points land wherever gravity compels them. We propose a more planned approach.

Ending commas and periods are simple* – unless you’re dealing with academic citations, always put them inside the quotation. (“What? That can’t be,” you say? Indeed, though commonly confused, this is the rule. Really. )

Ending question marks and exclamation marks require some thought – is the quotation asking a question or declaring something emphatically, or are you? (“I love grammar!” she bellowed. Did she really say, “I love grammar”?)

Ending semi-colons, colons, dashes, and asterisks are also simple – always put them outside the quotation. (“Wow”; “Wait”; “What’s a semi-colon?”)

*And for those of you who noticed the asterisk, simplicity varies across oceans. We’re discussing American grammar standards here. British rules vary a bit. Questions? Let us know.