Quotation marks

Quotation marks are primarily used to indicate material that is being reproduced word for word, as well as
some other important uses.
This entry consists of the following sections:

Quotation marks and adjacent punctuation

Quoting the words of others
Run-in quotations
Block quotations
Punctuation used to introduce the quoted material
Quotes within quotes
Other uses of quotation marks
Writing about letters and words
Translations
Scare quotes
Nicknames
Measurements

Quotation marks and adjacent punctuation

Though not necessarily logical, the American rules for multiple punctuation with quotation marks are
firmly established. (See here for a brief explanation of the British style.)

Commas and periods that are part of the overall sentence go inside the quotation marks, even though they
aren’t part of the original quotation.

Correct: “The best investments today,” according to Smith, “are commodities and emerging-market
stocks.”

Incorrect: “The best investments today”, according to Smith, “are commodities and emerging-market
stocks”.

(The original text quoted above is as follows: “The best investments today are commodities and
emerging-market stocks, not domestic stocks and bonds.”)

Unless they are part of the original quotation, all marks other than commas or periods are placed outside
the quotation marks.

Correct: She provides a thorough list of problems in her most recent article, “Misery in Paradise”; she
doesn’t provide a solution.

Incorrect: She provides a thorough list of problems in her most recent article, “Misery in Paradise;” she
doesn’t provide a solution.

Correct: Wasn’t it Dickens who wrote, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”?

Incorrect: Wasn’t it Dickens who wrote, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times?”

For more on the proper use of multiple punctuation at the end of a sentence, see here.

Quoting the words of others

There are two ways to incorporate quotations in your writing: run-in quotations and block quotations.

Run-in quotations
Short quotations can generally be run in to the main text using quotation marks.
In his novel White Noise, Don DeLillo neatly summarizes the materialist philosophy: “It’s all this activity
in the brain and you don’t know what’s you as a person and what’s some neuron that just happens to fire
or just happens to misfire.”

Block quotations
Longer quotations should be set off from the main text, and are referred to as block quotations. Because
the quoted material is set off from the main text, it is not necessary to use quotation marks. Style varies,
but at a minimum a block quotation should have a bigger left-hand margin than the main text. In contrast
to the main text, a block quotation might also have a bigger right-hand margin, be in a smaller or
otherwise different font, or have reduced line spacing.

In Walden, Henry David Thoreau makes the case for following one’s dreams:

I learned this, at least, by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams,
and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common
hours. He will put some things behind, will pass an invisible boundary; new, universal, and more liberal
laws will begin to establish themselves around and within him; or the old laws be expanded, and
interpreted in his favor in a more liberal sense, and he will live with the license of a higher order of
beings.

How do you determine if your quotation is short (allowing it to be incorporated into the main text) or long
(requiring a block quotation)? It depends. For academic writing, the Modern Language Association
(MLA) requires block quotations whenever the quoted material exceeds four lines, while the American
Psychological Association (APA) requires block quotations for anything exceeding forty words. If you
are not subject to a specific rule, establish your own (fifty words is reasonable) and use it consistently
throughout your document.

Introducing the quoted material: when to use a comma, colon, period, or no punctuation at all.

Comma
The comma is the mark most frequently used to introduce quoted material.

The flight attendant asked, “May I see your boarding pass?”

Buddha says, “Even death is not to be feared by one who has lived wisely.”

Colon
A colon should be used when the text introducing the quoted material could stand as a sentence on its
own. It is also the mark most commonly used to introduce a block quotation.

In Food Rules, Michael Pollan summarizes his extensive writing about food with seven words of advice:
“Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”

Period
A period can be used to introduce a block quotation when the introductory text stands on its own as a
complete sentence. In such cases, a colon is also proper—and sometimes preferable.

No punctuation
When the quoted material flows directly from your introductory text, no punctuation should be used
before the quotation. A very short quotation may also be introduced without punctuation. The
unpunctuated lead-in is most commonly used with run-in quotations, but it is also appropriate for
introducing block quotations that flow directly from the introductory text.
In her closing statement, the prosecutor spoke forcefully of the defendant’s “callous disregard for human
life.”

Though marshalling little evidence, the authors claim that “over half of British prisoners come from
single-parent households.”

We tried to persuade him, but he said “No way.”

The phrase “be that as it may” appears far too often in this manuscript.

Quotes within quotes

When a run-in quotation contains quotation marks within the quoted material itself, use single quotation
marks in their place. When the material being quoted contains a quotation within a quotation (i.e.,
something in single quotation marks), use double quotation marks.

The author’s final argument is less convincing: “When Brown writes of ‘interpreting the matter through a
“structuralist” lens,’ he opens himself to the same criticism he made earlier in his own paper.”

Other uses of quotations marks

Writing about letters and words

Quotation marks can be used when referring to a specific word or letter. (Some writers instead use italics
for this purpose.)

In the previous sentence, “letter” was properly spelled with two “t”s.

Translations
As an alternative to parentheses, quotation marks can be used to enclose a translation. In this case, it is
necessary to set the translation off with commas.

His knowledge of Portuguese is limited to obrigado, “thank you,” and adeus, “goodbye.”

Less commonly, single quotation marks are used in place of parentheses, in which case the translation is
not set off with commas. Also, any punctuation otherwise required by the structure of the sentence is
placed outside the single quotation marks.

His knowledge of Portuguese is limited to obrigado ‘thank you’ and adeus ‘goodbye’.

Scare quotes
Scare quotes are used to cast doubt on a word or phrase, or to emphasize that the word or phrase is being
used as a euphemism. Scare quotes are best used in moderation.

He rarely spoke of the “incident” that caused him to leave his previous employer.

The think tank’s “analysis” of the issue left much to be desired.

Nicknames
When inserted in the middle of a person’s actual name, a nickname should appear in quotation marks.

Henry M. “Hank” Paulson Jr.

Greg “The Shark” Norman

 Measurements
In informal writing, feet and inches are sometimes expressed as, for example, 5′ 10″ (read: five feet and
ten inches). Technically, the mark designating feet is a prime; the mark designating inches is a double
prime. These marks are available in most word processors, though many people simply use single and
double quotation marks: 5’ 10”.

Periods and commas are placed outside the prime and double prime marks.