Quotations within Quotations
Almost all of us have found ourselves confused with double and single quotation marks. When do we use single quotes? Where does the punctuation go with single quotes? With just a few rules and examples, you will feel surer about your decisions.
Rule: Use single quotation marks inside double quotation marks when you have a quotation within a quotation.
Example: Bobbi said, “Delia said, ‘This will never work.’”
Notice that what Delia said was enclosed in single quotes. Notice also that the period was placed inside both the single and the double quotation marks. The American rule is that periods always go inside all quotation marks.
Example: Bobbi said, “I read the article, ‘A Poor Woman’s Journey.’”
Rule: Question marks and quotation marks, unlike periods, follow logic with their placement. If a quote inside a quote is a question or exclamation, place the question mark or exclamation mark inside the single quotes.
Examples: Bobbi said, “Delia asked, ‘Will this remote control work on my TV?’”
Bobbi said, “Delia shouted, ‘Get your hands off me!’”
Rule: If the question is inside the double quotes, place the question mark between the single and double quotes.
Examples: Bobbi asked, “Did Delia say, ‘This will never work’?”
(Because you will rarely need an exclamation mark within the double quotes and not within the single quotes, there is little sense discussing this.)
Rule: In the above three examples, only one ending punctuation mark was used with the quotation marks. The rule is that the “stronger” mark wins. Question marks and quotation marks are considered stronger than the period. Period!
Take an Online Quiz
Try an Online Quotation Mark Quiz. Get answers and explanations instantly!
Hundreds of Quizzes at Your Fingertips
Get hundreds of additional quizzes not found in The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation or anywhere else! Click here to subscribe.
* Take the quizzes online or download and copy them.
* Get scored instantly.
* Read explanations for every quiz answer. NEW!
* Reproduce the quizzes to your heart`s content.
* Use one subscription for your entire family, classroom, or office.
* Dozens of English Usage Topics including:
o Subject/Verb Agreement
o Problems with Prepositions
o Pronouns including Who/Whom/Whoever/Whomever
o Adjectives and Adverbs including Good vs. Well
o Capitalization
o Writing Numbers
o Punctuation Marks including Commas, Semicolons, Quotation Marks, Hyphens, and Dashes.
o Hundreds of Spelling,Vocabulary, and Confusing Words including Affect vs. Effect, Lay vs. Lie, It`s vs. Its
Click here to subscribe.
Hundreds of quizzes designed to help you become a better writer, student, or proofreader. Great preparation for the SAT.
A gold mine for teachers, homeschoolers, and trainers:
* self-paced
* automatic, instant scoring online
* explanations to every answer provided
* every relevant topic covered
* downloadable and reproducible
* one subscription works for an entire family, classroom, or office
Click here to subscribe.
Don’t need all the quizzes at once? You can now purchase the same interactive, downloadable subscription quizzes individually.
Click here.
The Blue Book of Grammar E-Book Is Now Available!
What’s the advantage? It’s downloadable so you will have it with you wherever you have your laptop. Click here to order.
The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation 10th Edition
An indispensable tool for busy professionals, teachers, students, home-school families, editors, writers, & proofreaders. Great resource for SAT preparation.
View entire contents online
• Grammar Rules
• Punctuation & Capitalization Rules
• Rules for Writing Numbers
• Hundreds of Spelling/Vocabulary/Confusing Words
• Reproducible quizzes with answers
Discounts available for schools, bookstores, and multiple copies. Click to order.
________________________________________
English In A Snap: 68 One-Minute English Usage Videos
View Jane’s 68 one-minute video lessons that are available FREE. Learn all about who and whom, affect and effect, subjects and verbs, adjectives and adverbs, commas, semicolons, quotation marks, and much more by just sitting back and enjoying these easy-to-follow lessons. Tell your colleagues (and bosses), children, teachers, and friends.
Click here to view.
Valuable Link
Click here to read excerpts from Jane’s other wonderful book, Enough Is Enough! Stop Enduring and Start Living Your Extraordinary Life and listen to her podcasts. Learn more about Jane’s personal coaching work, speaking engagements, and articles that will inspire you to thrive.
February 21st, 2007 at 12:17 pm
On the subject of quotation marks, I was taught to use single marks (’) for quoting text, names, etc. and double marks (”) for spoken words. Have you heard of this? Is it double marks for anything quoted, for instance, a manufacturer’s name on a label, or a product name?
February 26th, 2007 at 3:53 pm
Mandy, you were taught incorrectly. Use double quotation marks for text and names unless they are within quoted material already. The other option with names of magazines, manufacturer’s names, products, etc., is to use italics.
March 17th, 2007 at 8:21 am
I thought it should read as:
“Didn’t she say,’How did you do that’ ?”
March 17th, 2007 at 4:10 pm
By all the comments to this blog, I can see how many people have been taught incorrectly. You don’t need the first set of quotation marks around
Didn’t she say…
because that is not part of the quote. Even if someone had actually said that part of the sentence, the question mark would be placed inside the single quotation mark.
March 29th, 2007 at 6:53 am
If I do that, how will the sentence end?
e.g., “Didn’t she say,’how did you do that?’…how do we finish this, with a single’ or “?
Also, the ‘h’; small or capital?
March 30th, 2007 at 12:01 am
“Didn’t she say, ‘How did you do that?’”