{"id":4294,"date":"2013-06-29T03:39:37","date_gmt":"2013-06-29T03:39:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/?page_id=4294"},"modified":"2026-03-26T09:27:05","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T14:27:05","slug":"quotation-marks","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/quotation-marks\/","title":{"rendered":"Quotation Marks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t\t<div id=\"mmDeferVideoEncompass_JV87QtaspPw\" style=\"position: relative;\">\n\t\t\t<picture>\n\t\t\t\t<source srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/circle-play-duotone.webp\" type=\"image\/webp\">\n\t\t\t\t<source srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/circle-play-duotone.png\" type=\"image\/jpeg\"> \n\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"eager\" id=\"videoThumbnailImage_JV87QtaspPw\" data-source-videoID=\"JV87QtaspPw\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/circle-play-duotone.png\" alt=\"Quotation Marks Video\" height=\"464\" width=\"825\" class=\"size-full\" data-matomo-title = \"Quotation Marks\">\n\t\t\t<\/picture>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<style>img#videoThumbnailImage_JV87QtaspPw:hover {cursor:pointer;} img#videoThumbnailImage_JV87QtaspPw {background-size:contain;background-image:url(\"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/539-quotation-marks-2.webp\");}<\/style>\n\t\t\t<script defer>\n\t\t\t  jQuery(\"img#videoThumbnailImage_JV87QtaspPw\").click(function() {\n\t\t\t\tlet videoId = jQuery(this).attr(\"data-source-videoID\");\n\t\t\t\tlet helpTag = '<div id=\"mmDeferVideoYTMessage_JV87QtaspPw\" style=\"display: none;position: absolute;top: -24px;width: 100%;text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-style: italic;font-size: small;border-top: 1px solid #fc0;\">Having trouble? <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v='+videoId+'\" target=\"_blank\">Click here to watch on YouTube.<\/a><\/span><\/div>';\n\t\t\t\tlet tag = document.createElement(\"iframe\");\n\t\t\t\ttag.id = \"yt\" + videoId;\n\t\t\t\ttag.src = \"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/\" + videoId + \"?autoplay=1&controls=1&wmode=opaque&rel=0&egm=0&iv_load_policy=3&hd=0&enablejsapi=1\";\n\t\t\t\ttag.frameborder = 0;\n\t\t\t\ttag.allow = \"autoplay; fullscreen\";\n\t\t\t\ttag.width = this.width;\n\t\t\t\ttag.height = this.height;\n\t\t\t\ttag.setAttribute(\"data-matomo-title\",\"Quotation Marks\");\n\t\t\t\tjQuery(\"div#mmDeferVideoEncompass_JV87QtaspPw\").html(tag);\n\t\t\t\tjQuery(\"div#mmDeferVideoEncompass_JV87QtaspPw\").prepend(helpTag);\n\t\t\t\tsetTimeout(function(){jQuery(\"div#mmDeferVideoYTMessage_JV87QtaspPw\").css(\"display\", \"block\");}, 2000);\n\t\t\t  });\n\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t<\/script>\n\t\t\n<p><script>\nfunction Acm_Function() {\n  var x = document.getElementById(\"Acm\");\n  if (x.style.display === \"none\") {\n    x.style.display = \"block\";\n  } else {\n    x.style.display = \"none\";\n  }\n}\n<\/script><\/p>\n<div class=\"moc-toc hide-on-desktop hide-on-tablet\">\n<div><button onclick=\"Acm_Function()\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/toc2.svg\" width=\"16\" height=\"16\" alt=\"show or hide table of contents\"><\/button><\/p>\n<p>On this page<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<nav id=\"Acm\" style=\"display:none;\">\n<ul>\n<li class=\"toc-h2\"><a href=\"#Quotation_Marks_and_Punctuation\" class=\"smooth-scroll\">Quotation Marks and Punctuation<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"toc-h2\"><a href=\"#Partial_Quotes\" class=\"smooth-scroll\">Partial Quotes<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"toc-h2\"><a href=\"#Quotes_Within_Quotes\" class=\"smooth-scroll\">Quotes Within Quotes<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"toc-h2\"><a href=\"#Quoting_a_Source\" class=\"smooth-scroll\">Quoting a Source<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"toc-h2\"><a href=\"#Frequently_Asked_Questions\" class=\"smooth-scroll\">Frequently Asked Questions<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/nav>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"accordion\"><input id=\"transcript\" type=\"checkbox\" class=\"spoiler_button\" \/><label for=\"transcript\">Transcript<\/label><input id=\"FAQs\" type=\"checkbox\" class=\"spoiler_button\" \/><label for=\"FAQs\">FAQs<\/label>\n<div class=\"spoiler\" id=\"transcript-spoiler\">\n<p>Hey guys, welcome to this video lesson on quotation marks!<\/p>\n<p>Quotation marks are used to separate quotes from the main sentence and attribute them to their respective owners. The most common time you will see quotation marks used is when a writer wants to include <strong>dialogue<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"Quotation_Marks_and_Punctuation\" class=\"m-toc-anchor\"><\/span>Quotation Marks and Punctuation<\/h2>\n<p>\nThe challenge is knowing where to put punctuation marks in relation to quotation marks. Periods and commas are always put inside closing quotation marks while semicolons and colons are always put on the outside.<\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"Exclamation_Points_and_Question_Marks\" class=\"m-toc-anchor\"><\/span>Exclamation Points and Question Marks<\/h3>\n<p>\n<a class=\"ylist\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/exclamation-point\/\">Exclamation<\/a> and <a class=\"ylist\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/question-marks\/\">question marks<\/a> vary. If the quoted material includes the exclamation or question, the mark goes on the inside. If the material is being quoted within an exclamatory or interrogative sentence, the mark goes at the end of the sentence.<\/p>\n<p>Here are some examples:<\/p>\n<div class=\"transcriptcallout\">Which character said \u201cTo be or not to be\u201d?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat is taking him so long?\u201d she pondered.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0em;\">\u201cIt\u2019s raining outside!\u201d he exclaimed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\nEven if you\u2019re including the attribution tag <em>he exclaimed<\/em>, the exclamation point will still go inside of the quotation marks. The same rule applies for question marks:<\/p>\n<div class=\"transcriptcallout\">\u201cIs it raining outside?\u201d he questioned.<\/div>\n<p>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\nAs in the last example, the question mark goes inside of the quotations and is then followed by an attribution tag.<\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"Commas_and_Periods\" class=\"m-toc-anchor\"><\/span>Commas and Periods<\/h3>\n<p>\nUnlike exclamations and questions, it is not always guaranteed that commas and periods will go inside of quotation marks. For example, a period would go inside of a quotation mark to end the sentence if what is being quoted is a complete sentence on its own.<\/p>\n<div class=\"transcriptcallout\">Susan read, \u201cThe black cat scared the little boy.\u201d<\/div>\n<p>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\nHere, the comma goes before the quotation marks. A capital <em>T<\/em> is used because what occurs inside the quotations is a complete sentence. Additionally, the period at the end of the sentence is put inside the quotations to indicate the ending not only of the main sentence, but also of what is quoted.<\/p>\n<p>If the period didn\u2019t end the sentence, it would read as follows:<\/p>\n<div class=\"transcriptcallout\">Susan read, \u201cThe black cat scared the little boy\u201d in her book.<\/div>\n<p>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\nIn this rewrite, the comma still comes before the quotation marks, the T is still capitalized, but the period occurs outside of the quotation marks and at the end of the sentence. The period comes at the very end of the sentence because the material being quoted did not end the sentence.<\/p>\n<p>Unlike an exclamation point or a question mark, a period cannot be thrown into the middle of a sentence and then continued on the other side, unless of course it is being used for an abbreviation.<\/p>\n<div class=\"transcriptcallout\">\u201cCome read with me,\u201d Susan said to Anne.<\/div>\n<p>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\nThis is an example where the comma would be placed inside of the quotation marks. Up until this point, we\u2019ve used examples where the comma is placed before the quotation marks. The comma is placed inside of the quotation marks to indicate that the whole of the sentence is continuing beyond the quote.<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"Partial_Quotes\" class=\"m-toc-anchor\"><\/span>Partial Quotes<\/h2>\n<p>\nSo far, we\u2019ve looked at examples of quotation marks being used in traditional dialogue. In the instance of using a partial quote, you will need to include quotation marks around what is being quoted.<\/p>\n<div class=\"transcriptcallout\">Susan said she was \u201ctoo tired\u201d to read, but I don\u2019t think that\u2019s the case.<\/div>\n<p>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\nThis is an example of using quotations around a partial quote. The writer is quoting part of what Susan said to describe herself in the middle of the sentence. A comma is not usually needed to set off or end a partial quote seeing as it is information that would fit seamlessly into the sentence without quotation marks.<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"Quotes_Within_Quotes\" class=\"m-toc-anchor\"><\/span>Quotes Within Quotes<\/h2>\n<p>\nSpeaking of making quotations in the middle of a sentence, did you know that it\u2019s possible to make a quote within a quote? To do this, you use single quotation marks to set off the quote inside of the original quote. Let\u2019s look at an example.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s say you\u2019re quoting information from a text that also quotes dialogue:<\/p>\n<div class=\"transcriptcallout\">Kate read aloud, \u201cAccording to Jane, \u2018Three cups of coffee are not enough!\u2019\u201d<\/div>\n<p>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\nAs you can see, this example has a quote within a quote, and we\u2019ve used single quotation marks within regular quotation marks to denote this.<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"Quoting_a_Source\" class=\"m-toc-anchor\"><\/span>Quoting a Source<\/h2>\n<p>\nFor our last example, let\u2019s say you\u2019re writing a research paper and want to include a quote from an article you found.<\/p>\n<div class=\"transcriptcallout\" style=\"text-align: left;\">According to John Smith, \u201cThe best snack is a handful of almonds\u201d (Year Published\/ Page Number).<\/div>\n<p>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\nTo quote information from a different source, you would include an attribution tag, According to John Smith, a comma, the quote, and in the parentheses following the quote, you would include the source information. It is very important to use quotation marks when quoting material from a source other than yourself.<\/p>\n<p>To quote someone or something without quotation marks and the proper attributions is called <strong>plagiarism<\/strong>. If there was ever a rule in the English language that didn\u2019t have an exception, it would be the &#8220;never plagiarize&#8221; policy.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>\nQuotation marks are overall pretty simple to use in your writing whether it\u2019s dialogue or quoting from a research journal. The main factor when using quotation marks is staying aware of where the excess punctuation in the sentence goes.<\/p>\n<p>Thanks for watching this video on quotation marks. Until next time!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"spoiler\" id=\"FAQs-spoiler\">\n<h2 style=\"text-align:center\">Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2>\n<div class=\"faq-list\">\n<div class=\"qa_wrap\">\n<div class=\"q_item text_bold\">\n<h4 class=\"letter\">Q<\/h4>\n<p style=\"line-height: unset;\">When do you use quotation marks?<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"a_item\">\n<h4 class=\"letter text_bold\">A<\/h4>\n<p>Quotation marks are used to show direct quotes and to denote the title of certain works. These are the types of work that require quotation marks:  <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Chapters in a book<\/li>\n<li>Episodes of a TV series<\/li>\n<li>Song titles<\/li>\n<li>Poems<\/li>\n<li>Article titles<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"qa_wrap\">\n<div class=\"q_item text_bold\">\n<h4 class=\"letter\">Q<\/h4>\n<p style=\"line-height: unset;\">Does the period go inside quotation marks?<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"a_item\">\n<h4 class=\"letter text_bold\">A<\/h4>\n<p>In American English, periods will always appear <em>inside<\/em> ending quotation marks, not outside.<\/p>\n<table class=\"NBTable\" style=\"margin: auto; width: 100%;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"text-align: right; vertical-align: top;\"><strong>Correct:<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: left;\">Yvonne said, &quot;Honestly, things will probably never change.&quot;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"text-align: right; vertical-align: top;\"><strong>Correct:<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: left;\">Thomas Edison believed that genius was &quot;one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.&quot;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"text-align: right; vertical-align: top;\"><strong>Incorrect:<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: left;\">Caleb noted, &quot;I think the red paint will look best&quot;.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"qa_wrap\">\n<div class=\"q_item text_bold\">\n<h4 class=\"letter\">Q<\/h4>\n<p style=\"line-height: unset;\">Does any punctuation go inside quotation marks?<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"a_item\">\n<h4 class=\"letter text_bold\">A<\/h4>\n<p>In American English, periods and commas always go inside closing quotation marks.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><strong>Example 1:<\/strong> &quot;In my opinion,&quot; Keith explained, &quot;cheese pizza is the best.&quot;<br \/><strong>Example 2:<\/strong> My favorite poem is Edgar Allan Poe\u2019s &quot;The Raven.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>Semicolons and colons will always appear <em>outside<\/em> of the closing quotation marks.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><strong>Example 1:<\/strong> He referred to the class as &quot;a waste of my time&quot;; the other students agreed.<br \/><strong>Example 2:<\/strong> Jaylen listed three items under the section titled &quot;Ingredients&quot;: flour, milk, and eggs.<\/p>\n<p>Exclamation points and question marks only go inside the closing quotation marks if they are a part of the quoted material. Otherwise, they go outside the quotation marks.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><strong>Example 1:<\/strong> &quot;What time is it?&quot; she asked.<br \/><strong>Example 2:<\/strong> Do you know who wrote the play &quot;A Midsummer Night\u2019s Dream&quot;?<br \/><strong>Example 3:<\/strong> Ryland shouted, &quot;There\u2019s a snake in the grass!&quot;<br \/><strong>Example 4:<\/strong> I can\u2019t believe you\u2019ve never heard &quot;Moonlight Sonata&quot;!<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"home-buttons\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/writing\/\">Return to Writing Videos<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Return to Writing Videos<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":95404,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":{"0":"post-4294","1":"page","2":"type-page","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"page_category-writing-videos","7":"page_type-video","8":"page_domain-english","9":"subject_matter-english"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4294"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4294\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":279538,"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4294\/revisions\/279538"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}