In this installment of common punctuation mistakes, we’re going to look at quotation marks. These seem simple enough, but problems pop up when other punctuation, like periods and commas, get involved.
Let’s dive in.
When to use quotation marks
Quotation marks are used when directly quoting someone.
Nancy said, “Bob isn’t talking to me anymore. I wonder why?”
You can use them to set off new words or words just entering the language.
Bob heard them use “adulting” and instantly hated it.
Or, if the writer wants to distance themselves from a word, use quotation marks.
I also hate the word “adulting” and avoid using it.
You would also use quotation marks for titles of works such as newspaper or magazine articles, poems, short stories, songs, television show episodes and chapters of books.
Nancy sang the song “Poker Face” as she drove her Lincoln down the highway.
Remember that you would italicize the name of the newspaper or magazine, the television show, movie or book title. No quotation marks are used in those cases.
One last way to use quotation marks is to set off words used as words. Sounds funny, right? This is what I mean:
The words “principal” and “principle” are sometimes confused.
Using other punctuation with quotation marks
When discussing other punctuation used with quotation marks and where to place it, make sure you know the difference between American usage and usage in other countries. If you see it done a different way than the rules below, check to see where the book or article comes from. Other countries do some things a little different than we do.
Periods and commas
Both periods and commas are placed inside quotation marks in all cases. This applies to double and single quotation marks.
“I thought you were nice at first,” Bob said to Nancy. “But now I know you’re purposely trying to hurt my feelings.”
Colons and semicolons
Colons and semicolons always go outside the quotation mark.
Bob was at work when he told Jim, “I don’t care about diversity training”; he didn’t know, however, that his boss overheard him.
Question marks and exclamation points
Where question marks and exclamation points get placed depends on how they apply in the sentence. Here are two examples:
Nancy asked a co-worker, “Why are we having this meeting now?”
Did you hear Nancy ask “Why are we having this meeting now”?
In the first example, the question mark only applies to the quoted material, so the question mark goes inside the quotation marks. In the second example, the quoted material is part of the larger sentence which is a question; therefore, the question mark is placed outside the quotation marks so it applies to the entire sentence.
How NOT to use quotation marks
Don’t use quotation marks to bring attention to slang words or to justify an attempt at humor. If you have to use quotes to make sure people know something is funny, it probably isn’t funny at all.
When you are indirectly quoting someone, you don’t need quotation marks. If the word “that” introduces the phrase in question, it’s likely an indirect quote or paraphrase.
Bob said that he didn’t need any help on the project.
One more left
Whew! We have one more post in this series to discuss a few other punctuation marks: dashes, parentheses, brackets, ellipsis and the slash.
We won’t be discussing periods, question marks or exclamation points. I figure if you don’t know how to use those three things, you need more help than I can give.
Join me for the final post in this series soon!