QUOTATION MARKS

Use quotation marks to enclose a direct quotation—a person’s exact words. “I’m taking the test tomorrow,” stated Ryan. Cindy asked, “When do we get our ID cards?” “I hope,” said Dan, “that it doesn’t rain during the picnic.” “The date is set,” declared Bob. “We can’t change it.”

Do not use quotation marks to enclose an indirect quotation—a rewording of a person’s exact words. Jan complained that her legs hurt from jogging. The teacher explained that the test would take the entire class period. Sam asked if we were going to work on the project after school.

Direct Quotations and Capitalization A directly quoted sentence begins with a capital letter. “Please sign in when you get to the Media Center,” reminded the teacher. Her father asked, “Why did you buy another purse?” “We need to finish our project this week!” his partner exclaimed.

Direct Quotations and Capitalization Capitalize a directly quoted remark even if the remark is not a complete sentence—frequently used in written dialogue. Mr. Smith answered, “On Friday, of course.” “Yes,” she agreed.

Direct Quotations and Capitalization When an interrupting expression divides a quoted sentence into two parts, the second part begins with a lowercase letter. “I’m not sure,” remarked Annette, “whether I’ll be able to attend the meeting.” “She drove over one hundred miles,” he stated, “to see you on your birthday.”

Direct Quotations and Capitalization If the first and second parts of a direct quote are complete sentences, a period follows the interrupting expression, and the second part begins with a capital letter. “Her street address is 123 Fourth Street,” said Julia. “Did you know that?” “Where have you been, Jim?” asked Lee. “The bus is leaving.”

Direct Quotations and Capitalization When a direct quotation of two or more sentences by the same speaker is not divided, only one set of quotation marks is used. Tanya suggested, “Let’s donate the profits from the car wash to Operation Christmas Child. It provides a shoebox of gifts to children in developing countries who face difficult circumstances such as disease, poverty, famine, or war.”

Direct Quotations and Punctuation A direct quote is set off from the rest of the sentence by a comma, question mark, or exclamation point, but not a period. “Your projects are due on November 17,” reminded Ms. Snader. “On what day is your 16th birthday?” asked her friend. “You forgot? You’d better get me a good present!” she exclaimed.

Direct Quotations and Punctuation Commas and periods are always placed inside the quotation marks. “The concert tickets are sold out,” Mary said, “and I had really wanted to go.” “The ad says that it’s for health and relaxation,” she stated.

Direct Quotations and Punctuation Colons and semicolons are placed outside the closing quotation marks. The following students have been named “most likely to succeed”: Jane Doe and Sam Smith. He quoted a Cameroonian proverb, “By trying often, the monkey learns to jump from the tree”; it reminded me of the expression “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”

Direct Quotations and Punctuation A question mark or exclamation point is placed inside the quotation marks if the quotation itself is a question or exclamation. “What time is the game tomorrow?” Maria asked. While I was at bat, Sam kept yelling, “Hit it over the fence!”

Direct Quotations and Punctuation A question mark or exclamation point is placed outside the quotation marks when the entire sentence is a question or exclamation and not the direct quotation. Why did you shout, “It doesn’t matter”? Don’t say, “I’d rather not”!

Direct Quotations and Punctuation When both the sentence and the quotation at the end of the sentence are questions or exclamations, only one question mark or exclamation point is used. It is placed inside the quotation marks. Who asked, “What time is it?”

Direct Quotations and Punctuation When a quoted passage consists of more than one paragraph, put quotation marks at the beginning of each paragraph and at the end of the entire passage. Do not put quotation marks after every paragraph. “Now, this car is one of our hottest sellers. It has bucket seats, a CD player, and alloy wheels. “It’s also one of the safest cars on the road because of its heavy suspension and antilock brake system. It gets good gas mileage, too. “All in all, I think this would be the perfect car for you.”

Quotation Marks and Dialogue When writing dialogue (a conversation), begin a new paragraph every time the speaker changes, and enclose each speaker’s words in quotation marks. A man of Merv, well known as the home of complicated thinkers, ran shouting one night through the city’s streets. “Thief, Thief!” he cried. The people surrounded him, and when he was a little calmer, asked: “Where was the thief?” “In my house.” “Did you see him?” “No.” from “The Thief” by Niamat Khan

Quotation Marks and Titles Use quotation marks to enclose titles (including subtitles) of short works. SHORT STORIES— “The Gift of the Magi” POEMS— “In Memory of Richi” ESSAYS/ARTICLES— “The 9/11 Disappeareds” SONGS— “Blessed Be the Tie That Binds” TV EPISODES— The Walking Dead “Slabtown” CHAPTERS— Chapter 23 “Punctuation: Semicolons and Colons”

Single Quotation Marks Use single quotation marks to enclose a quotation or title within a quotation. Bob said, “Dad yelled, ‘No way!’” Megan asked, “Did you like my rendition of ‘America the Beautiful’?”

Single Quotation Marks Use quotation marks to enclose slang words, technical terms, and unusual uses of words. My best friend said my new shoes look very “fly.” Is there now a computer that can perform more than fifteen “gigaflops” (that is, fifteen billion operations) a second? Fire burns oxygen quickly; my chemistry teacher says flame is a “gas-guzzler.”

The Underlining Alternative Italics The Underlining Alternative

Italics are printed letters that lean to the right. This sentence is printed in italics. When you are writing, indicate italics by underlining. If you are typing, use italics. UNDERLINING: I enjoyed the book The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter. ITALICS: I enjoyed the book The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter.

Use italics (underlining) for titles and subtitles. Books: The House on Mango Street Plays: The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet Long poems: The Odyssey Periodicals: Sports Illustrated Jacksonville Journal-Courier Works of art: Mona Lisa Movies: Mr. Holland’s Opus TV series: Leave It to Beaver Long musical works and recordings: The Nutcracker

Use italics (underlining) for the names of ships, trains, aircraft, and spacecraft. Aircraft: Spirit of St. Louis Air Force One Ship: Carpathia Titanic Train: Orient Express Polar Express Spacecraft: Challenger Apollo 13

Use italics (underlining) for words, letters, symbols, and numerals referred to as such. Sometimes my 3’s look like 8’s. The first o in zoology is pronounced with a long o sound. The four H’s in 4-H stand for head, heart, hand, and health. The three M’s referred to in the company name 3M stand for Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing.

Use italics (underlining) for foreign words that have not been adopted into English. Bonjour Does the Vietnamese word chiao mean the same thing as the Italian word ciao? Daktari is Swahili for the English word doctor.