1. Quotation Marks
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2. What are quotation marks?
Quotation marks are used around direct quotations: someone’s speech or writing repeated exactly, word for word.
DIRECT QUOTATION: Helen asked, “Can I borrow your car?”
Quotation marks are not used around indirect quotations: restatements of what someone said or wrote, not word for word.
INDIRECT QUOTATION: Helen asked to borrow my car.
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3. What are quotation marks? (continued)
When referring to a short work such as a magazine or newspaper article, a chapter in a book, a short story, an essay, a song, or a poem, put quotation marks around the title of the work.
Usually, the titles of longer works are underlined or italicized.
(See your textbook for more specific rules and examples for using quotation marks.)
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4. Fix the following sentence by inserting quotation marks where needed:
My sister told me that I must see this movie.
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5. Answer: No quotation marks needed. This is an indirect quotation.
My sister told me that I must see this movie.
No quotation marks needed. This is an indirect quotation.
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6. Fix the following sentence by inserting quotation marks where needed:(continued 1)
Sorry, no backpacks allowed said the security guard.
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7. Answer: (continued 1)
“Sorry, no backpacks allowed,” said the security guard.
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8. Fix the following sentence by inserting quotation marks where needed:(continued 2)
Lola has been telling me for years that she wants to leave her job.
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9. Answer: (continued 2)
Lola has been telling me for years that she wants to leave her job.
No quotation marks needed. This is an indirect quotation.
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10. Fix the following sentence by inserting quotation marks where needed:(continued 3)
A little learning wrote Alexander Pope is a dangerous thing.
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11. Answer: (continued 3)
“A little learning,” wrote Alexander Pope, “is a dangerous thing.”
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12. Fix the following sentence by inserting quotation marks where needed:(continued 4)
What do you mean by minor procedure doctor? asked the patient.
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13. Answer: (continued 4)
“What do you mean by ‘minor procedure,’ doctor?” asked the patient.
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14. Fix the following sentence by inserting quotation marks where needed:(continued 5)
The film Stand by Me was based on Stephen King’s short story The Body.
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15. Answer: (continued 5)
The film Stand by Me was based on Stephen King’s short story “The Body.”
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