Single quotation marks are used to indicate quotations inside of other quotations . “Jessie said, ‘Goodbye,'” Ben said. This is Ben talking, so his words go in quotation marks. ... Just like regular double quotation marks, a single quote mark always comes after a period or comma.
What is the purpose of a single quotation mark?
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 .
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.
What does it mean when a word is in single quotes?
Quotation marks around single words can occasionally be used for emphasis, but only when quoting a word or term someone else used. Usually, this implies that the author doesn't agree with the use of the term. ... When quotation marks are put around a word in this way, they are called scare quotes.
What is a single quotation called?
Apostrophe or single quotation mark.
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.
Can you use single quotes for emphasis?
Emphasis . 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.
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.
Where do you use single quotation marks?
Single quotation marks are used to mark a quote within a quote or a direct quote in a news story headline . Periods always go inside all quotation marks. A question mark is only placed inside of single quotation marks if the quote within a quote is a question. The same is true for exclamation marks.
When should single quotes be used?
One writer recommends using single quotes to clearly differentiate between the words of a “a real or fictional entity” and those of “the author of the surrounding text.” A user of the forum Quora writes, “I use ‘scare' quotes”, to acknowledge that the word is not my own.
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.
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.
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.
What are the types of quotation?
- In-text quotes. An in-text quote is a short quote that fits into and completes a sentence you've written. ...
- Indirect quotes. An indirect quote is when you paraphrase ideas from a source. ...
- Direct quotes. A direct quote is when you take text directly from a source without changing anything.
What is the first quotation mark called?
Depending on the typeface, the opening and closing quotation marks may be identical in form (called “ vertical” or “straight” or “typewriter” quotation marks), or they may be distinctly left-handed and right-handed (“typographic” or, colloquially, “curly” quotation marks).
Should I use single or double quotes?
As a general rule, British usage has in the past usually preferred single quotes for ordinary use, but double quotes are now increasingly common; American usage has always preferred double quotes .
