Quotation marks Wikipedia:Manual of Style

mos:quotemarks

in material below, term quotation includes conventional uses of quotation marks such titles of songs, chapters, episodes, , on.

quotation characters

mos:curly
mos:cq
mos:straight



use straight quotes, not “curly”. (for single quotes or apostrophes: straight , not ‘curly’.)


do not use accent marks, backticks (`text´), or low-high („ “) or guillemet (« ») marks quotation marks (or apostrophes). symbols ′ , ″ seen in edit window dropdowns prime , double-prime; these used indicate subdivisions of degree, not apostrophes or quote marks.
quotation marks , apostrophes in imported material should changed if necessary.




mos:double
mos:single



double or single
enclose quotations double quotation marks (bob said, jim ate apple. ). enclose quotation inside quotation single quotation marks (bob said, did jim ate apple after left? ). there exceptions, such as:

plant cultivars take single quotation marks (malus domestica golden delicious ; see wp:naming conventions (flora)).
simple glosses translate or define unfamiliar terms take single quotes (cossack comes turkic qazaq, freebooter ).




article openings
in bolded text typically appearing @ opening of article:

any quotation marks part of title should in bold rest of title (from alibi: alibi mystery novel ...).
quotation marks not part of article title should not bolded (from jabberwocky: jabberwocky nonsense poem ...; buffalo bill: william frederick buffalo bill cody american scout, bison hunter, , showman ...).




punctuation before quotations
the use of comma before quotation embedded within sentence optional, if non-quoted otherwise identical construction work grammatically without comma:

the report stated there 45% reduction in transmission rate. (cf. non-quotation report stated there 45% reduction in transmission rate.)
the report stated, there 45% reduction in transmission rate.


the comma-free approach used partial quotations:

the report observed 45% reduction in transmission rate .
free central anaïs nin s experience of life, wrote shrinks or expands in proportion 1 s courage .


commas used interrupted quotations:

life , anaïs nin wrote, shrinks or expands in proportion 1 s courage.


a comma required when present in same construction if none of material quotation:

in margaret mead s view, must recognize whole gamut of human potentialities enrich our culture.


do not insert comma if confuse or alter meaning:

caitlyn jenner expressed concerns children coming terms being true . (accurate quote of statement children – children coming terms ... )
caitlyn jenner expressed concerns children, coming terms being true . (changes meaning imply jenner expressing concern children, while separately observing children, in general, coming terms ... )


it clearer use colon introduce quotation if forms complete sentence, , should done multi-sentence quotations:

the report stated: there 45% reduction in transmission rate.
albert einstein wrote: logic b. imagination take everywhere.


no additional punctuation necessary explicit words-as-words scenario:

the message unintelligible except fragments , how longer before .



names , titles

quotation marks should used following names , titles:

for example: song example album example band example.

do not use quotation marks or italics for:

many, not all, of above items should in title case.

punctuation inside or outside

mos:lq
mos:tq

on english wikipedia, use logical quotation style in articles, regardless of variety of english in written. include terminal punctuation within quotation marks if present in original material, , otherwise place after closing quotation mark. part, means treating periods , commas in same way question marks: keep them inside quotation marks if apply quoted material , outside if apply whole sentence. examples given below.

did darla say, there ? (mark applies whole sentence)
no, said, i? (mark applies quoted material only)

if quotation full sentence , coincides end of sentence containing it, place terminal punctuation inside closing quotation mark. if quotation single word or fragment, place terminal punctuation outside.

marlin said: need find nemo.
marlin needed, said, find nemo .

if quoted sentence has been broken editorial insertion, still include terminal punctuation inside closing quotation mark.

need , said marlin, find nemo.

if quoted sentence followed clause should preceded comma, omit full stop other terminal punctuation, such question mark or exclamation mark, may retained. question should end question mark.

dory said, yes, can read , gave marlin idea.
dory said, yes, can read! , gave marlin idea.

if quoted sentence followed clause identifying speaker, use comma outside quotation mark instead of full stop inside it, retain other terminal punctuation, such question marks.

why sleeping? , asked darla.
fish friends, not food , said bruce.

do not follow quoted words or fragments commas inside quotation marks, except longer quotation has been broken , comma part of full quotation.

fish friends, said bruce, not food.
why , asked darla, sleeping?

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