Not sure the exact name and proper use when someone uses a quote structure ('direct speech') using single quotes (') vs double quotes ("), eg.
- He said '...'
as opposed to
- He said "...".
Can someone explain the difference please?
-
1There are no hard and fast rules. Unlike with spelling, the only place the details of punctuation are really formalized is in the style guides of various publishers and independent agencies, such as the Chicago Manual of Style, etc, but style guides contradict each other and every publisher has its own tweaks and custom rules, so it's really just a matter of picking a style that suits you, and being consistent to the extent you can. Unless of course, your employer requires or enforces a particular style.– Dan BronCommented Feb 11, 2016 at 19:35
-
2You may want to rephrase your question for clarity. You seem to be asking about the difference between single quotation marks versus double quotation marks. It doesn't seem to have anything essential to do with paraphrase, does it?– DyingIsFunCommented Feb 11, 2016 at 21:06
Add a comment
|
2 Answers
Just to be clear, no quotation marks are necessary or appropriate when paraphrasing. Either kind of quotation mark explicitly mean it's a direct quotation; if you're paraphrasing, you should not claim it's a direct quote!
The general rule for North America is simple:
- Use the double quotation marks to indicate a direct quotation.
- If your direct quotation includes, in itself, a direct quotation, the inner quotation should use the single quotes.
The general rule in British and Australian English is also simple, but opposite:
- Use the single quotation marks to indicate a direct quotation.
- If your direct quotation includes, in itself, a direct quotation, the inner quotation should use the double quote.
Example: Pat said, "I heard Harper say, 'I can't eat peanut butter,' but they didn't say why."
(The opposite is also fine.)
If, for some reason, you need a quote within a quote within a quote (or more), the convention is to strictly alternate singles and doubles; that way the reader can always tell when the innermost quotation ends.
When quoting a quote, using the original quotation marks is not appropriate; one should use the quotation marks that best clarify the current text. (This can be annoying to edit when copy-pasting someone's text which includes quotes, but it's important that the end result is clear to the reader.)
Different publications may follow different style guides on this, may require block quotes in lieu of quotes of quotes, etc. Also, technical manuals will often have practices particular to the manual (especially for computer code, where some languages use the single quote for text literals, and others use the double quote.)
Final note: many fonts do not actually have a single quote; what we're using is the apostrophe character, which is also used for contractions, possessives, etc. Some systems include, "smart quotes," and you'll know you're using one when you put a word between apostrophes and the system automatically converts them into opening and closing quotation marks. Such systems usually do this for both single and double quotes.
-
As it’s currently written, your answer is unclear. Please edit to add additional details that will help others understand how this addresses the question asked. You can find more information on how to write good answers in the help center.– Community BotCommented Jan 5 at 17:57
Double quotes are typically used to represent a verbatim copy of someone's sentences, while single quotes (squotes) are typically used to reference a feature of the text, rather than read it normally. That is how I can talk about a word like 'the'. 'The' is a determiner, but as you read squoted 'the', you treat it as a noun. Both quotes and squotes turn text into a noun, so you might find them used either way; or you might find both, allowing nested quotes like: She said "I heard him say 'I love you'".
PS: this font looks like I used double and triple squotes.
