How To Write Quotes Within Quotes

Make sure you are very clear with the names of who is saying what.

How to write quotes within quotes. Use single quotation marks for quotations within quotations. When you need to present a quotation within a quotation use double quotation marks around the quotation incorporated into your text and single quotation marks around the quotation within that quotation. In british english you start with single quotation marks and then double quotation marks. In american english use double quotation marks for quotations and single quotation marks for quotations within quotations. Capitalization of the quoted material depends on the material itself if you re quoting a complete sentence you should start the quote with a capital letter even if the quote is placed in the middle of a sentence.

Indicate the secondary source using double quotation marks. Bobbi said i read an interesting article titled a poor woman s journey. When you come to the second quote use a comma before beginning the quote within a quote. As a courtesy make sure there is visible space at the start or end of a quotation between adjacent single and double quotation marks. Are you a c.

American usage is yes it should be inside the quotes even if it is not part of the quotation. In a town outside brisbane i saw tourists go home written on a wall. In ame the outermost quotation mark is a double. In memories of west street and lepke robert lowell a conscientious objector or c o recounts meeting a jehovah s witness in prison. Here are the three takeaway points.

The american rule is that periods always go inside all quotation marks. Give the name of the first person who is speaking at the beginning of the first quote and then name the person he or she quotes before beginning the second quote. But then someone told me pay it no mind lad note that the period goes inside both the single and double quotation marks. The first nested quote would then be inside single quotation marks and a. 4 use single quotation marks around the quoted portion.

So for dialogue the spoken text opens and closes with double quotation marks. One level of nesting the most common reason for nesting punctuation is shown in section 1 3 7 of the mla handbook p. Quotations and capitalization sometimes the text inside quotation marks is capitalized other times it isn t. In british english use single quotation marks for if you are using double quotation marks for the outside quote use single quotation marks for the inside quote. Use double quotation marks around the secondary source s passage.