Using Quotations

When to Use Quotes The grammar quiz was a real killer, Jane said. “” As Jane walked out of English class, she muttered, That was the hardest quiz I have ever taken. “” She said the grammar quiz was hard. In my opinion, she said, that was much harder than last semester’s grammar. “” “ ” Use quotation marks at the beginning and at the end of direct quotations. They aren’t used within paraphrases (indirect quotations). The drama director explained that the play this year will be Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

Capitalization of Quotations When the class misbehaved, the teacher asked, “What’s the matter with you people?” “No, we’re not watching a movie,” the teacher exclaimed after her class had asked three times that day. In a divided quotation, do no capitalize the first word of the second part unless it starts a new sentence. Capitalize the first word of a direct quotation, whether it goes before or after the attribution (who said and any necessary context). “In my opinion,” she said, “you all are weird.” “Yes, I am joking,” she said. “You are all great students.”

Punctuation of Quotations If the quotation is after the attribution, the attribution has a comma after it, and the end punctuation goes inside the quotation mark. The boy said, “This is getting really confusing. ” “Don’t worry. I know you can get it!” the teacher exclaimed. The student asked, “Are you sure I can do this ? ” If the attribution is after the quotation, the attribution has the punctuation after it, and a comma goes inside the quotation mark. (Except with a ! Or ?) “This is getting really confusing, ” the boy said. The teacher exclaimed, “Don’t worry. I know you can get it!” “Are you sure I can do this ? ” the student asked.

Punctuation of Divided Quotations The first part of the divided quotation is followed by a comma. “I’m starting to get this, ” the boy said. “I know I can do it. ” “At first, ” he said, “I didn’t totally understand. ” “But now, ” he added, “I’m becoming a real pro at it ! ” The end punctuation goes at the end of the quotation mark. The attribution is followed by a comma if the first part is a partial quote. It’s followed by a period if the first part is a complete quote. “Was I really, ” he asked, “scared about this ? ”

Quote inside a quote To write a quote within a quote, use single quotation marks to enclose the inside quotations. In these instances, a double quotation mark follows the single quotation mark. (Use double quotes on the outside, and use single quotes inside the double quotes.) “Seriously, our teacher said, ‘You guys are crazy,’ when she got annoyed with us,” Jane said. “Oh my gosh. Sarah just left the class going, ‘That was the hardest test ever,’” Jane said.

Other General Rules Commas and periods go inside the closing quotation marks. Anytime there is a beginning quotation mark, there needs to be an ending quotation mark.