English Grammar Workbook For Dummies, with Online Practice, 3rd Edition

Chapter 10

“Can I Quote You on That?” Quotation Marks

IN THIS CHAPTER

Differentiating between quoted and paraphrased material

Punctuating sentences containing quoted material

Punctuating titles of literary and media works

Quotation marks can be puzzling because they’re subject to many rules, most of which come from custom rather than logic. But if you’re willing to put in a little effort, you can crack the code and employ this punctuation mark correctly.

Quotation marks surround words drawn from another person’s speech or writing, and, in fiction, they indicate when a character is speaking. However, they don’t belong in a sentence that summarizes instead of repeating the actual words someone wrote or said. Quotation marks also enclose the titles of certain types of literary or other artworks. Sometimes quotation marks indicate slang or tell the reader that the writer doesn’t agree with the words inside the quotation marks. In this chapter you put quotation marks to work in all these situations. Lucky you!

Quoting and Paraphrasing: What’s the Difference?

I have something to tell you: I love Jane Austen’s novels and read all six once a year. If you want to convey that fact about ...