Quotation Marks
Double quotation marks are used mainly to enclose a quotation.
For example:
John replied, “I would never
accompany such a person on a trip.”
Here, the double quotation marks are used to enclose John's
quote.
There are some other significant uses for quotation marks:
1.
To signify one or more words that are being explained.
Consider the following example:
The word “consider” in the previous
sentence is a verb.
In this example, the word
“consider” is being defined. Therefore, quotation marks are used.
2.
To signify parts of a work or short works.
For example:
The article “Never been better” in
yesterday’s newspaper was hilarious!
Here, the article is part of the
entire newspaper, so it has quotation marks around it.
Also, remember that titles of major
works are underlined on paper and italicized on a computer.
Punctuating
Quotations
There are a few rules to follow when using quotations in
sentences.
1.
Capitalize the first word of the quotation if it is a complete sentence.
For example:
“I don’t think
this was an accident,” Joe said.
Here, the first word of the quotation is
capitalized because the quotation is a complete sentence.
2. End
a quotation with a comma if it is not the end of the sentence. If it is the end
of the sentence, use whichever end punctuation mark is necessary. In both
cases, place the quotation marks outside the punctuation mark.
Consider the following examples:
“I don’t think
this was an accident,” Joe said.
Joe said, “I
don’t think this was an accident.”
In the first example, the quotation ends
with a comma because it is not the end of the sentence. In the second example,
the quotation ends with a period because it is the end of the sentence. Notice
that in both cases, the quotation marks are outside of the punctuation marks.
There are a few exceptions to this rule;
these exceptions will be covered in the next grade concepts.
3. Use
commas to introduce quotations.
Consider the example from above:
Joe said, “I don’t
think this was an accident.”
Here, a comma is used after “Joe said” to
introduce the quotation. The quotation marks follow the comma.
Sometimes, the quotation will be split in two parts
with some words in between. Here, all of the above rules are necessary.
For example:
“What would you
do,” Nikita said, “if an elephant came into your house?”
First of all, the first letter of the quotation
is capitalized because the entire quotation (both parts) is a complete
sentence.
Second, a comma is used to end the first
part of the quotation because it is not the end of the sentence. The quotation
marks are placed outside the comma.
Third, a comma is used to introduce the
second part of the quotation. The quotation mark comes after the comma.
Finally, the second part of the quotation
ends with a question mark because it is the end of the sentence. The quotation
marks are placed outside of the question mark.
Single quotation marks have one common use: to enclose a
quotation within a quotation. They are used when you are quoting someone, who
is in turn quoting someone else.
For example:
Ashley reported, “When a member of
the Soviet Union said, ‘We will bury you!’ he was angry at the United States.”
In this example, the writer is quoting Ashley, and Ashley is
quoting a member of the Soviet Union. For a quotation-within-a-quotation, we
use single quotation marks.