What Are Single Quotation Marks Used For?

by | Last updated on January 24, 2024

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Single are also known as ‘quote marks', ‘quotes', ‘speech marks' or ‘inverted commas'. Use them to:

show direct speech and the quoted work of other writers

.

When should single quotes be used?

Single marks are

used to indicate inside of other quotations

. “Jessie said, ‘Goodbye,'” Ben said. This is Ben talking, so his words go in quotation marks. But because we're quoting Ben quoting someone else, Jessie, we use single quotation marks to indicate the quote within the quote.

What is the rule for using single quotation marks?

In a headline, single quotation marks are used in place of the standard double quotation marks. So,

if the headline includes the title of a song, short story or a quotation, you would use

single quotation marks. Generally, you'll see this used when the headline is in reference to something someone said.

Can I use single quotation marks to emphasize a word?


Do not use quotation marks to emphasize a word

. Just don't. … The strength of your words should make any formatting unnecessary, but if you really want to emphasize something, use boldface or italics.

What is the difference between single and double quotation marks?

General Usage Rules

Double quotes are used to mark speech, for titles of short works like TV shows and articles, as scare quotes to indicate irony or an author's disagreement with a premise. … Single quotes are

used to enclose a quote within a quote

, a quote within a headline, or a title within a quote.

Where do we use single and double inverted commas?

In British English we use single inverted

commas for direct speech

and double marks to enclose the quote. Example: Mr Smith said, ‘I think it was Sarah who said “It was a mistake” more than once. ‘ In American English you use single quotation marks when direct speech is quoted within another piece of direct speech.

Should I use single or double quotes in Python?


Use single quotes


Use single-quotes for string literals

, e.g. ‘my-identifier', but use double-quotes for strings that are likely to contain single-quote characters as part of the string itself (such as error messages, or any strings containing natural language), e.g. “You've got an error!”.

Do single quotation marks go outside the period?


The single quotation mark comes after the period

because that's the rule in American English. The double quote mark comes next, because double quotation marks enclose single quotation marks.

Is an apostrophe the same as a single quote?

Despite their resemblance and shared spot on the keyboard,

the apostrophe is not the same thing as the single quotation mark

. They are two entirely different punctuation symbols. Single quotes are limited to one real function in written U.S. English, which is to indicate a quotation within a quotation.

How do you indicate paraphrasing a quote?

To paraphrase a source, you have

to rewrite a passage without

changing the meaning of the original text. Paraphrasing is an alternative to quoting, where you copy someone's exact words and put them in quotation marks.

What is a single quotation mark called?

Single quotation marks are also known as

‘quote marks'

, ‘quotes', ‘speech marks' or ‘inverted commas'. Use them to: show direct speech and the quoted work of other writers. enclose the title of certain works.

How do you use single and double quotation marks?

If you are an American, using quotation marks could hardly be simpler:

Use double quotation marks at all times unless quoting something within a quotation, when you use single

. It's different in the greater Anglosphere, where they generally use singles in books and doubles in newspapers.

What are () called in English?

They can also be used in mathematical expressions. For example, 2{1+[23-3]}=x.

Parentheses

( () ) are curved notations used to contain further thoughts or qualifying remarks. However, parentheses can be replaced by commas without changing the meaning in most cases.

Why do we put words in inverted commas?

Inverted commas are punctuation marks that are

used in writing to show where speech or a quotation begins and ends

. They are usually written or printed as ‘ ‘ or “ ”. Inverted commas are also sometimes used around the titles of books, plays, or songs, or around a word or phrase that is being discussed.

What do quotation marks look like?

Quotation marks can be

double

(“…”) or single (‘…') – that is really a matter of style (but see below for more about this). Quotation marks are also called “quotes” or “inverted commas”. 1.

Where do we use single inverted commas?

Single inverted commas (in British English) are mainly used to:

mark the beginning and end of direct speech

(i.e. a speaker's words written down exactly as they were spoken). EXAMPLE: ‘What time does the lecture begin?' she asked.

Amira Khan
Author
Amira Khan
Amira Khan is a philosopher and scholar of religion with a Ph.D. in philosophy and theology. Amira's expertise includes the history of philosophy and religion, ethics, and the philosophy of science. She is passionate about helping readers navigate complex philosophical and religious concepts in a clear and accessible way.