When should we use single and double quotation marks?
Should full stop and other exclamation mark be inside or outside quotes?
Thanks, Avadhut
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Avadhut Nigudkar
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Depends on which church of punctuation you worship in. But generally single quotes are reserved for quotations inside quotations: "This is a quote which contains 'This quotation'." – Hot Licks Jul 10 '15 at 16:29
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This is a matter of style; there is no single "correct" way. Adhere to the guidance of your editor or style guide, and be consistent. – choster Jul 10 '15 at 20:00
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possible duplicate of When should single quotes be used? – deadrat Jul 10 '15 at 22:51
1 Answers
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(1) For simple quotations, Americans use double quotes and Brits use single:
- She said, "No." (U.S.)
- She said, 'No.' (U.K.)
For quotations within quotations, the usage switches:
- She said, "Bob said, 'No way.' " (U.S.)
- She said, 'Bob said, "No way." ' (U.K.)
(2) If the punctuation mark is part of the quoted text, it goes inside. And if the quotation ends the sentence, no punctuation mark follows:
- She said, "No way!" (U.S.)
- She said, 'No way!' (U.K.)
If the punctuation mark is NOT part of the quoted text, it goes outside, except for full stops (periods) and commas in American writing:
- I couldn't believe she said "No"! (U.S.)
- I couldn't believe she said 'No'! (U.K.)
- In Spanish, "cat" is "gato." (U.S.)
- In Spanish, 'cat' is 'gato'. (U.K.)
- "Hello," she said. (U.S.)
- 'Hello', she said. (U.K.)
Douglas McClure
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