Thread: Tell me about quotation marks

As far as I've seen, all punctuation is supposed to be inside the quotes. I don't know if this changes for other countries, (I'm in North America) but I've been told by english teachers here: "Always put your punctuation inside your quotes," even if it's not part of what you're quoting.

As for single and double quotations, single quotation marks are only, typically, used inside quotations that cite other quotations; a quote within a quote. In a programmer's world, single quotations are used to identify individual letters. However, is it incorrect to say my name is spelled with an 'I?' Is that what it would say in the "Book Of English Grammar?" In the words of a friend of mine: "English is the craziest language. Even english teachers will probably sometimes say: 'I'm not sure.'"

Note: Everything above is correct according to North American grammar standards (or at least what I know of them). Clever aren't I?

EDIT: If this kind of information is required for an essay or other similar purpose, I'd recommend asking your instructor. It may seem silly, but they're the one who will grade it. So it's their opinion that matters.

It took me 5 fucking minutes to figure out what the difference was between the two things in your post.

lol Exo.

Thanks Demon! Makes a lot of sense.

Vamp, great post... the changes between one teacher to another annoy me as does the change brought on by time (?).
When I was a kid, I was taught to say (for example): "The food was Jesus'." But it was SAID like Jesus-es. Now we're not supposed to add the "-es" at the end? That just sounds silly.

Originally Posted by Zhaylin

lol Exo.

Thanks Demon! Makes a lot of sense.

Vamp, great post... the changes between one teacher to another annoy me as does the change brought on by time (?).
When I was a kid, I was taught to say (for example): "The food was Jesus'." But it was SAID like Jesus-es. Now we're not supposed to add the "-es" at the end? That just sounds silly.

That ownership apostrophe hasn't changed. It's still grammatically correct to write: "Jesus' beard" rather than: "Jesus's beard." It's things like this that make me glad english is my first language. I couldn't imagine trying to learn some of these nonsensical "rules" at the same time as learning the language as a whole.

EDIT: According to Wikipedia, placing punctuation in or outside quotations is different between American and British standards.
British - The sign read: "Hotel".
American - The sign read: "Hotel."

Was my post invisible?

Originally Posted by Merlock

It's all simple.

1. Single and double quotes.

Both are perfectly interchangeable. Use either set for both quoting and indirect meaning. Just make sure you match them. As in, if you open double quotes, you close double quotes. Also, if you need to use quotes inside quotes, use the opposing type from the ones you have on the outside (double outside, single inside).

2. Punctuation inside and outside quotes.

This depends partly on direct speech but mostly on American and British English differences.

British English uses punctuation outside quotes, unless it's specifically part of the quoted content, which is often the case in direct speech. However, otherwise, the punctuation is placed outside quotes.

American English places punctuation marks inside quotes.

3. I like pie. That is all.

I agree, if I understand you correct. Commas are used to separate direct speech or quoted elements from the rest of a sentence. A comma is not always needed in direct speech if another punctuation mark serves to separate the quoted element from the rest of the sentence. For example:

"Merlock has arrived," Adam exclaimed, "and late as usual."

I always use double for quoting text/speech, or single for anything else, but consistency is key as you say.

Bottom thinks he would make a wonderful lion: 'I will roar, that I will make the Duke say "Let him roar again let him roar again!"'

Oh great, so many answers I learnt a lot from you lot!

Originally Posted by Vampyre

According to Wikipedia, placing punctuation in or outside quotations is different between American and British standards.
British - The sign read: "Hotel".
American - The sign read: "Hotel."

Well, the first one makes a lot more sense to me.

Originally Posted by Adam

Bottom thinks he would make a wonderful lion: 'I will roar, that I will make the Duke say "Let him roar again let him roar again!"'

I think that when you have a quote inside of a quote, you use doubles first and then singles for any quotes inside a quote. So it would go "I will roar, that I will make the Duke say 'Let him roar again let him roar again!'"

Originally Posted by Demon Parasite

I think that when you have a quote inside of a quote, you use doubles first and then singles for any quotes inside a quote. So it would go "I will roar, that I will make the Duke say 'Let him roar again let him roar again!'"

I don't agree. If the quoted material contains some direct speech, the direct speech should be bounded by double speech marks, not the original quote.

^No, DP is right, that's the way I've seen it everywhere. It goes like this - if there is book-like dialogue, and one one of the characters quotes something, the dialogue is in doubles and the quote within the dialogue is in singles:

"She didn't say where she was going, all she said was 'Wish me luck.'"

If you're quoting both dialogue and non-dialogue, the non-dialogue gets the doubles and the dialogue then gets the singles:

"He smiled wanly. 'She can sure be a pain in the neck.' Then, without warning, the ninjas attacked..."

If you're quoting non-dialogue, dialogue, and there's a quote within said dialogue...then I have no fecking clue.