Single Quotation Marks


When should I use single quotatin marks? Should the period follow the single quotation mark?

asked Apr 09 '12 at 05:14 Diana Trageser New member

1 answer


Tony's answer and my post on the FEATURED: WRITING TIPS & TRICKS (as mentioned by Lewis) both reflect American usage.


It should be noted the British handle quotation marks differently. And that difference includes double quotation marks and single marks.


Where Americans use the single quotation mark to indicate a quote within a quote, the British practice is exactly opposite. In British English, the single mark is used to indicate the main quote and the double mark is used for the quote within. 'Spenser said, "that ship has sailded." '


Finally, it should be noted that while British grammarians and editors are making a valiant effort to retain the traditional British rules, the globalization of publishing is making American practice more prevalent.


Diana, you need to determine what the common practice is where your readers live.

link comment answered Apr 09 '12 at 15:42 Jeff Pribyl Grammarly Fellow

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