Grammar 101: Using Quotation Marks
August 8th, 2011 by Michael Kwan
You might remember when we explored the power of the comma, for instance, or when we took at a look at how to use apostrophes. Today, we take a look at the mighty quotation mark. As common as it may be, it’s almost more common to see it used incorrectly. Do you know when and how use to use quotation marks?
In general, quotation marks serve precisely the purpose you think they serve: to indicate that the words contained within them are a direct quote. You might see it in a press release, for example.
“We are really proud about our new product,” said XYZ President John Doe. “It will completely change the way everyone does business online.”
Quotation marks are not reserved for full sentences. They can be used for single words or short phrases too, but the assumption still remains that they are the exact words spoken or written by someone else.
If you have a Facebook page, then you have “fans.” If you have a Twitter profile, then you have “followers.”
Where you really start to see quotation marks being used incorrectly is in signage and advertising. Perhaps you’ve been to a grocery store and saw something similar to this:
Fresh “organic” strawberries on sale
The problem with using quotation marks in this way is that it gives a sense that “organic” is being used sarcastically or ironically. If someone were to criticize a political group, he or she may write something like this:
These so-called “patriots” don’t care about our country; they only care about their own agendas.
In this example, the writer doesn’t think that members of the other political group are particularly patriotic at all. It’s meant to be sarcastic. If you want to be literal and genuine, it’s perhaps best to leave out the quotation marks.
Do you have a suggestion for a future Grammar 101 blog post topic? Let me know through the comment form below!
Tags: grammar, grammar tips, punctuation
Filed under Freelance Writing.
Interesting post. I think one Grammar 101 post you should do is maybe go over American slang and explain how and why it is used and what area it is used, such as in the southern states people say Ya’ll and in you all or all of you people, and up north they say you guys, maybe not that particular example but I think you get what i am trying to say.
Is the double quotation mark and single quotation mark the same?
If not, how does one correctly use the single quotation mark?
I’ve been guilty of using these incorrectly. Basically, you use single quotation marks when you have a quote within a quote. For example:
“When Joe said, ‘I am fine,’ I knew he really wasn’t,” explained Jane.
You should cover quotation marks WITHIN quotations. That’s when %$&* gets real.
Oh, LOL I didn’t read the other comments, I guess.
As a quick follow-up, if you have a quote within a quote within a quote (three layers or more), then you alternate between single and double quotes.
I did not know that. But I can’t imagine a time where I might actually need to know that one, lol.
Michael, I have a question that has always bugged me about quotation marks. Why is the punctuation inside the closing quotation mark, instead of outside? An example is:
If you have a Facebook page, then you have “fans.”
I’m not sure about the why, but periods and commas should always be inside the quotation marks. A question mark can be either inside or outside, depending on context. If the question is part of the quote, then the question mark goes inside:
Susie asked, “Can we go home now?”
If the question is not part of the quote, the question mark goes outside:
How would you respond if I said, “I think you should lose some weight”?
It just doesn’t look right to me. I believe it should be:
If you have a Facebook page, then you have “fans”.
Whether you think it looks right or not, the period (or comma) goes inside the quotation marks.
So…
How would you respond if I said, “I think you should lose some weight.” to Susie?
Is that different than…
How would you respond if I said, “I think you should lose some weight.”?
Shouldn’t the end of the quotation be its own sentence and end with a period first?
In both cases, you wouldn’t have the period inside the quotation marks because the period isn’t needed at all. It would just be:
How would you respond if I said, “I think you should lose some weight” to Susie?
Yeah, but I don’t have to like it.
[...] Eating, Sweating and Progress August 12, 2011 Ray Ebersole Leave a comment Go to comments It has been an interesting week in “The 3 Month Sprint To Change A Lifetime.” (Side note that the punctuation for the quotations is in the correct place Michael) [...]