double quotes in an essay

Quotation Marks: When to Use Single or Double Quotes

#scribendiinc

An Introduction to Usage

How Do I Know if I Should Use Single or Double Quotes?

Should I Use Single or Double Apostrophes for Quotes within Quotes?

Do i use single or double speech marks for block quotations, i'm writing in a specialized field; should i use quotation marks for specialized terms, when to use apostrophes, when to use colons and semicolons, when to use parentheses.

Quote marks can be confusing, especially for those unfamiliar with their English grammar and punctuation rules.

However, there's no need to be embarrassed—these upside-down commas sometimes confuse even the most seasoned writers!

How Do I Know If I Should Use Single or Double Quotes?

The short answer is that it depends on the country that you are writing in.

In British and Australian English, one typically uses single quotes. If you're writing in North America, double quote marks are typically used.

However, sometimes a publisher's or an author's style may take precedence over such general preferences.

In Butcher's Copy-editing , Judith Butcher points out that some writers have their own systems of speech marks, e.g., double apostrophe marks for speech and single quote signs for thoughts.

The most important rule when using these little punctuation marks is that the style of the opening and closing speech marks match.

• 'Good morning, Mary,' called Adrian.
• "Good morning, Stephen," called Jane.

First things first: Decide whether you will use double or single apostrophes for the initial quote.

If you use single quote marks, you should use double speech marks for a quote within a quote. If you use double quote signs, you should use single quotation signs for a quote within a quote.

• "When I say 'immediately,' I mean sometime before August," said the manager.
• 'Why did she call the man a "traitor"?'

You do not usually need opening and closing quotes to punctuate material that has been set off from the main text as a block quotation. Block quotations are typically either indented or put in a smaller font.

According to the convention being used, quotations within the block will have double or single quotes (British or American).

• Imagine Bart's surprise, dear reader, when Emma turned to him and said, contemptuously, "What 'promise'?"
• 'The passing crowd' is a phrase coined in the spirit of indifference. Yet, to a man of what Plato calls 'universal sympathies,' and even to the plain, ordinary denizens of this world, what can be more interesting than those who constitute 'the passing crowd'?

In much specialist writing (including linguistics, philosophy, and theology), terms with particular meanings that are unique to that subject are often enclosed in single inverted commas.

• The inner margins of a book are called the 'gutter.'
• Many people do not realize that 'cultivar' is synonymous with 'clone.'

Inserting quote signs may not be essential to your argument. However, it is still important not to confuse your readers by including too many punctuation marks.

• An example of an apple is 'Jonathon,' of a grape, 'Chardonnay,' and of the Gallica rose, 'Rosa Munda.'

For direct help crafting your sentence with correct punctuation, try Scribendi's editing and proofreading services .

The apostrophe is probably one of the English language's most abused punctuation marks. For example, by looking at different advertisements, street signs, and store marquees, you'll realize many people don't seem to understand the proper use of this mark.

Apostrophes are used in two instances only:

• To show possession
• To indicate the omission of numbers or letters

Check out our blog post on using apostrophes for more information.

A semicolon separates major elements in a sentence. A semicolon should appear between related independent clauses when not connected by coordinative conjunction, such as "yet," "so," "for," "nor," "or," "but," or "and."

• Some choir members used their free time after the event to interact with peers; others left immediately.

Colons, on the other hand, are used after an independent clause to announce a list or quotation.

• The garden contained the following plants: carrots, lettuce, basil, and tomatoes.

Learn more about the use of semicolons and colons .

Parentheses are used within a sentence to include information that's not essential to the main point but that is still relevant. Such information is supplementary, and omitting it wouldn't change the meaning of the main point.

Read more about the use of parentheses .

While quotations are necessary for most types of writing, the use of too many quotation marks—whether single or double quotes—can make your writing seem heavy-handed.

To ensure quotation marks have been used appropriately used in your writing, consider sending it to the professionals at Scribendi for proofreading.

Image source: unsplash.com

Strengthen Your Writing with Professional Editing and Proofreading

Hire an expert academic editor , or get a free sample, about the author.

Scribendi's in-house editors work with writers from all over the globe to perfect their writing. They know that no piece of writing is complete without a professional edit, and they love to see a good piece of writing turn into a great one after the editing process. Scribendi's in-house editors are unrivaled in both experience and education, having collectively edited millions of words and obtained nearly 20 degrees collectively. They love consuming caffeinated beverages, reading books of various genres, and relaxing in quiet, dimly lit spaces.

Have You Read?

"The Complete Beginner's Guide to Academic Writing"

Related Posts

How to Use Apostrophes

The Semicolon and Colon

Understanding Punctuation

Upload your file(s) so we can calculate your word count, or enter your word count manually.

We will also recommend a service based on the file(s) you upload.

English is not my first language. I need English editing and proofreading so that I sound like a native speaker.

I need to have my journal article, dissertation, or term paper edited and proofread, or I need help with an admissions essay or proposal.

I have a novel, manuscript, play, or ebook. I need editing, copy editing, proofreading, a critique of my work, or a query package.

I need editing and proofreading for my white papers, reports, manuals, press releases, marketing materials, and other business documents.

I need to have my essay, project, assignment, or term paper edited and proofread.

I want to sound professional and to get hired. I have a resume, letter, email, or personal document that I need to have edited and proofread.

 Prices include your personal % discount.

 Prices include % sales tax ( ).

What this handout is about

Used effectively, quotations can provide important pieces of evidence and lend fresh voices and perspectives to your narrative. Used ineffectively, however, quotations can clutter your text and interrupt the flow of your argument. This handout will help you decide when and how to quote like a pro.

When should I quote?

Use quotations at strategically selected moments. You have probably been told by teachers to provide as much evidence as possible in support of your thesis. But packing your paper with quotations will not necessarily strengthen your argument. The majority of your paper should still be your original ideas in your own words (after all, it’s your paper). And quotations are only one type of evidence: well-balanced papers may also make use of paraphrases, data, and statistics. The types of evidence you use will depend in part on the conventions of the discipline or audience for which you are writing. For example, papers analyzing literature may rely heavily on direct quotations of the text, while papers in the social sciences may have more paraphrasing, data, and statistics than quotations.

Discussing specific arguments or ideas

Sometimes, in order to have a clear, accurate discussion of the ideas of others, you need to quote those ideas word for word. Suppose you want to challenge the following statement made by John Doe, a well-known historian:

“At the beginning of World War Two, almost all Americans assumed the war would end quickly.”

If it is especially important that you formulate a counterargument to this claim, then you might wish to quote the part of the statement that you find questionable and establish a dialogue between yourself and John Doe:

Historian John Doe has argued that in 1941 “almost all Americans assumed the war would end quickly” (Doe 223). Yet during the first six months of U.S. involvement, the wives and mothers of soldiers often noted in their diaries their fear that the war would drag on for years.

Giving added emphasis to a particularly authoritative source on your topic.

There will be times when you want to highlight the words of a particularly important and authoritative source on your topic. For example, suppose you were writing an essay about the differences between the lives of male and female slaves in the U.S. South. One of your most provocative sources is a narrative written by a former slave, Harriet Jacobs. It would then be appropriate to quote some of Jacobs’s words:

Harriet Jacobs, a former slave from North Carolina, published an autobiographical slave narrative in 1861. She exposed the hardships of both male and female slaves but ultimately concluded that “slavery is terrible for men; but it is far more terrible for women.”

In this particular example, Jacobs is providing a crucial first-hand perspective on slavery. Thus, her words deserve more exposure than a paraphrase could provide.

Jacobs is quoted in Harriet A. Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, ed. Jean Fagan Yellin (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1987).

Analyzing how others use language.

This scenario is probably most common in literature and linguistics courses, but you might also find yourself writing about the use of language in history and social science classes. If the use of language is your primary topic, then you will obviously need to quote users of that language.

Examples of topics that might require the frequent use of quotations include:

Southern colloquial expressions in William Faulkner’s Light in August

Ms. and the creation of a language of female empowerment

A comparison of three British poets and their use of rhyme

Spicing up your prose.

In order to lend variety to your prose, you may wish to quote a source with particularly vivid language. All quotations, however, must closely relate to your topic and arguments. Do not insert a quotation solely for its literary merits.

One example of a quotation that adds flair:

President Calvin Coolidge’s tendency to fall asleep became legendary. As H. L. Mencken commented in the American Mercury in 1933, “Nero fiddled, but Coolidge only snored.”

How do I set up and follow up a quotation?

Once you’ve carefully selected the quotations that you want to use, your next job is to weave those quotations into your text. The words that precede and follow a quotation are just as important as the quotation itself. You can think of each quote as the filling in a sandwich: it may be tasty on its own, but it’s messy to eat without some bread on either side of it. Your words can serve as the “bread” that helps readers digest each quote easily. Below are four guidelines for setting up and following up quotations.

In illustrating these four steps, we’ll use as our example, Franklin Roosevelt’s famous quotation, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

1. Provide context for each quotation.

Do not rely on quotations to tell your story for you. It is your responsibility to provide your reader with context for the quotation. The context should set the basic scene for when, possibly where, and under what circumstances the quotation was spoken or written. So, in providing context for our above example, you might write:

When Franklin Roosevelt gave his inaugural speech on March 4, 1933, he addressed a nation weakened and demoralized by economic depression.

2. Attribute each quotation to its source.

Tell your reader who is speaking. Here is a good test: try reading your text aloud. Could your reader determine without looking at your paper where your quotations begin? If not, you need to attribute the quote more noticeably.

Avoid getting into the “they said” attribution rut! There are many other ways to attribute quotes besides this construction. Here are a few alternative verbs, usually followed by “that”:

Different reporting verbs are preferred by different disciplines, so pay special attention to these in your disciplinary reading. If you’re unfamiliar with the meanings of any of these words or others you find in your reading, consult a dictionary before using them.

3. Explain the significance of the quotation.

Once you’ve inserted your quotation, along with its context and attribution, don’t stop! Your reader still needs your assessment of why the quotation holds significance for your paper. Using our Roosevelt example, if you were writing a paper on the first one-hundred days of FDR’s administration, you might follow the quotation by linking it to that topic:

With that message of hope and confidence, the new president set the stage for his next one-hundred days in office and helped restore the faith of the American people in their government.

4. Provide a citation for the quotation.

All quotations, just like all paraphrases, require a formal citation. For more details about particular citation formats, see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . In general, you should remember one rule of thumb: Place the parenthetical reference or footnote/endnote number after—not within—the closed quotation mark.

Roosevelt declared, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself” (Roosevelt, Public Papers, 11).

Roosevelt declared, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”1

How do I embed a quotation into a sentence?

In general, avoid leaving quotes as sentences unto themselves. Even if you have provided some context for the quote, a quote standing alone can disrupt your flow.  Take a look at this example:

Hamlet denies Rosencrantz’s claim that thwarted ambition caused his depression. “I could be bounded in a nutshell and count myself a king of infinite space” (Hamlet 2.2).

Standing by itself, the quote’s connection to the preceding sentence is unclear. There are several ways to incorporate a quote more smoothly:

Lead into the quote with a colon.

Hamlet denies Rosencrantz’s claim that thwarted ambition caused his depression: “I could be bounded in a nutshell and count myself a king of infinite space” (Hamlet 2.2).

The colon announces that a quote will follow to provide evidence for the sentence’s claim.

Introduce or conclude the quote by attributing it to the speaker. If your attribution precedes the quote, you will need to use a comma after the verb.

Hamlet denies Rosencrantz’s claim that thwarted ambition caused his depression. He states, “I could be bounded in a nutshell and count myself a king of infinite space” (Hamlet 2.2).

When faced with a twelve-foot mountain troll, Ron gathers his courage, shouting, “Wingardium Leviosa!” (Rowling, p. 176).

The Pirate King sees an element of regality in their impoverished and dishonest life. “It is, it is a glorious thing/To be a pirate king,” he declares (Pirates of Penzance, 1983).

Interrupt the quote with an attribution to the speaker. Again, you will need to use a comma after the verb, as well as a comma leading into the attribution.

“There is nothing either good or bad,” Hamlet argues, “but thinking makes it so” (Hamlet 2.2).

“And death shall be no more,” Donne writes, “Death thou shalt die” (“Death, Be Not Proud,” l. 14).

Dividing the quote may highlight a particular nuance of the quote’s meaning. In the first example, the division calls attention to the two parts of Hamlet’s claim. The first phrase states that nothing is inherently good or bad; the second phrase suggests that our perspective causes things to become good or bad. In the second example, the isolation of “Death thou shalt die” at the end of the sentence draws a reader’s attention to that phrase in particular. As you decide whether or not you want to break up a quote, you should consider the shift in emphasis that the division might create.

Use the words of the quote grammatically within your own sentence.

When Hamlet tells Rosencrantz that he “could be bounded in a nutshell and count [him]self a king of infinite space” (Hamlet 2.2), he implies that thwarted ambition did not cause his depression.

Ultimately, death holds no power over Donne since in the afterlife, “death shall be no more” (“Death, Be Not Proud,” l. 14).

Note that when you use “that” after the verb that introduces the quote, you no longer need a comma.

The Pirate King argues that “it is, it is a glorious thing/to be a pirate king” (Pirates of Penzance, 1983).

How much should I quote?

As few words as possible. Remember, your paper should primarily contain your own words, so quote only the most pithy and memorable parts of sources. Here are guidelines for selecting quoted material judiciously:

Excerpt fragments.

Sometimes, you should quote short fragments, rather than whole sentences. Suppose you interviewed Jane Doe about her reaction to John F. Kennedy’s assassination. She commented:

“I couldn’t believe it. It was just unreal and so sad. It was just unbelievable. I had never experienced such denial. I don’t know why I felt so strongly. Perhaps it was because JFK was more to me than a president. He represented the hopes of young people everywhere.”

You could quote all of Jane’s comments, but her first three sentences are fairly redundant. You might instead want to quote Jane when she arrives at the ultimate reason for her strong emotions:

Jane Doe grappled with grief and disbelief. She had viewed JFK, not just as a national figurehead, but as someone who “represented the hopes of young people everywhere.”

Excerpt those fragments carefully!

Quoting the words of others carries a big responsibility. Misquoting misrepresents the ideas of others. Here’s a classic example of a misquote:

John Adams has often been quoted as having said: “This would be the best of all possible worlds if there were no religion in it.”

John Adams did, in fact, write the above words. But if you see those words in context, the meaning changes entirely. Here’s the rest of the quotation:

Twenty times, in the course of my late reading, have I been on the point of breaking out, ‘this would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion in it!!!!’ But in this exclamation, I should have been as fanatical as Bryant or Cleverly. Without religion, this world would be something not fit to be mentioned in public company—I mean hell.

As you can see from this example, context matters!

This example is from Paul F. Boller, Jr. and John George, They Never Said It: A Book of Fake Quotes, Misquotes, and Misleading Attributions (Oxford University Press, 1989).

Use block quotations sparingly.

There may be times when you need to quote long passages. However, you should use block quotations only when you fear that omitting any words will destroy the integrity of the passage. If that passage exceeds four lines (some sources say five), then set it off as a block quotation.

Be sure you are handling block quotes correctly in papers for different academic disciplines–check the index of the citation style guide you are using. Here are a few general tips for setting off your block quotations:

• Set up a block quotation with your own words followed by a colon.
• Indent. You normally indent 4-5 spaces for the start of a paragraph. When setting up a block quotation, indent the entire paragraph once from the left-hand margin.
• Single space or double space within the block quotation, depending on the style guidelines of your discipline (MLA, CSE, APA, Chicago, etc.).
• Do not use quotation marks at the beginning or end of the block quote—the indentation is what indicates that it’s a quote.
• Place parenthetical citation according to your style guide (usually after the period following the last sentence of the quote).
• Follow up a block quotation with your own words.

So, using the above example from John Adams, here’s how you might include a block quotation:

After reading several doctrinally rigid tracts, John Adams recalled the zealous ranting of his former teacher, Joseph Cleverly, and minister, Lemuel Bryant. He expressed his ambivalence toward religion in an 1817 letter to Thomas Jefferson:

Adams clearly appreciated religion, even if he often questioned its promotion.

How do I combine quotation marks with other punctuation marks?

It can be confusing when you start combining quotation marks with other punctuation marks. You should consult a style manual for complicated situations, but the following two rules apply to most cases:

Keep periods and commas within quotation marks.

So, for example:

According to Professor Poe, werewolves “represent anxiety about the separation between human and animal,” and werewolf movies often “interrogate those boundaries.”

In the above example, both the comma and period were enclosed in the quotation marks. The main exception to this rule involves the use of internal citations, which always precede the last period of the sentence. For example:

According to Professor Poe, werewolves “represent anxiety about the separation between human and animal,” and werewolf movies often “interrogate those boundaries” (Poe 167).

Note, however, that the period remains inside the quotation marks when your citation style involves superscript footnotes or endnotes. For example:

According to Professor Poe, werewolves “represent anxiety about the separation between human and animal,” and werewolf movies often “interrogate those boundaries.” 2

Place all other punctuation marks (colons, semicolons, exclamation marks, question marks) outside the quotation marks, except when they were part of the original quotation.

Take a look at the following examples:

I couldn’t believe it when my friend passed me a note in the cafe saying the management “started charging $15 per hour for parking”!

The coach yelled, “Run!”

In the first example, the author placed the exclamation point outside the quotation mark because she added it herself to emphasize the outrageous nature of the parking price change. The original note had not included an exclamation mark. In the second example, the exclamation mark remains within the quotation mark because it is indicating the excited tone in which the coach yelled the command. Thus, the exclamation mark is considered to be part of the original quotation.

How do I indicate quotations within quotations?

If you are quoting a passage that contains a quotation, then you use single quotation marks for the internal quotation. Quite rarely, you quote a passage that has a quotation within a quotation. In that rare instance, you would use double quotation marks for the second internal quotation.

Here’s an example of a quotation within a quotation:

In “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” Hans Christian Andersen wrote, “‘But the Emperor has nothing on at all!’ cried a little child.”

Remember to consult your style guide to determine how to properly cite a quote within a quote.

When do I use those three dots ( . . . )?

Whenever you want to leave out material from within a quotation, you need to use an ellipsis, which is a series of three periods, each of which should be preceded and followed by a space. So, an ellipsis in this sentence would look like . . . this. There are a few rules to follow when using ellipses:

Be sure that you don’t fundamentally change the meaning of the quotation by omitting material.

Take a look at the following example:

“The Writing Center is located on the UNC campus and serves the entire UNC community.”

“The Writing Center . . . serves the entire UNC community.”

The reader’s understanding of the Writing Center’s mission to serve the UNC community is not affected by omitting the information about its location.

Do not use ellipses at the beginning or ending of quotations, unless it’s important for the reader to know that the quotation was truncated.

For example, using the above example, you would NOT need an ellipsis in either of these situations:

“The Writing Center is located on the UNC campus . . .”

The Writing Center ” . . . serves the entire UNC community.”

Use punctuation marks in combination with ellipses when removing material from the end of sentences or clauses.

For example, if you take material from the end of a sentence, keep the period in as usual.

“The boys ran to school, forgetting their lunches and books. Even though they were out of breath, they made it on time.”

“The boys ran to school. . . . Even though they were out of breath, they made it on time.”

Likewise, if you excerpt material at the end of clause that ends in a comma, retain the comma.

“The red car came to a screeching halt that was heard by nearby pedestrians, but no one was hurt.”

“The red car came to a screeching halt . . . , but no one was hurt.”

Is it ever okay to insert my own words or change words in a quotation?

Sometimes it is necessary for clarity and flow to alter a word or words within a quotation. You should make such changes rarely. In order to alert your reader to the changes you’ve made, you should always bracket the altered words. Here are a few examples of situations when you might need brackets:

Changing verb tense or pronouns in order to be consistent with the rest of the sentence.

Suppose you were quoting a woman who, when asked about her experiences immigrating to the United States, commented “nobody understood me.” You might write:

Esther Hansen felt that when she came to the United States “nobody understood [her].”

In the above example, you’ve changed “me” to “her” in order to keep the entire passage in third person. However, you could avoid the need for this change by simply rephrasing:

“Nobody understood me,” recalled Danish immigrant Esther Hansen.

Including supplemental information that your reader needs in order to understand the quotation.

For example, if you were quoting someone’s nickname, you might want to let your reader know the full name of that person in brackets.

“The principal of the school told Billy [William Smith] that his contract would be terminated.”

Similarly, if a quotation referenced an event with which the reader might be unfamiliar, you could identify that event in brackets.

“We completely revised our political strategies after the strike [of 1934].”

Indicating the use of nonstandard grammar or spelling.

In rare situations, you may quote from a text that has nonstandard grammar, spelling, or word choice. In such cases, you may want to insert [sic], which means “thus” or “so” in Latin. Using [sic] alerts your reader to the fact that this nonstandard language is not the result of a typo on your part. Always italicize “sic” and enclose it in brackets. There is no need to put a period at the end. Here’s an example of when you might use [sic]:

Twelve-year-old Betsy Smith wrote in her diary, “Father is afraid that he will be guilty of beach [sic] of contract.”

Here [sic] indicates that the original author wrote “beach of contract,” not breach of contract, which is the accepted terminology.

Do not overuse brackets!

For example, it is not necessary to bracket capitalization changes that you make at the beginning of sentences. For example, suppose you were going to use part of this quotation:

“The colors scintillated curiously over a hard carapace, and the beetle’s tiny antennae made gentle waving motions as though saying hello.”

If you wanted to begin a sentence with an excerpt from the middle of this quotation, there would be no need to bracket your capitalization changes.

“The beetle’s tiny antennae made gentle waving motions as though saying hello,” said Dr. Grace Farley, remembering a defining moment on her journey to becoming an entomologist.

Not: “[T]he beetle’s tiny antennae made gentle waving motions as though saying hello,” said Dr. Grace Farley, remembering a defining moment on her journey to becoming an entomologist.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Barzun, Jacques, and Henry F. Graff. 2012. The Modern Researcher , 6th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Booth, Wayne C., Gregory G. Colomb, Joseph M. Williams, Joseph Bizup, and William T. FitzGerald. 2016. The Craft of Research , 4th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Gibaldi, Joseph. 2009. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers , 7th ed. New York: The Modern Language Association of America.

Turabian, Kate. 2018. A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, Dissertations , 9th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Make a Gift

Understanding Quotation Marks (Rules, When to Use, Single, Double, Examples)

What are quotation marks? Quotation marks are known as quotes, inverted commas, talking marks, and speech marks. Many students of the English language don’t have a complete understanding of where and how to use quotation marks. Moreover, it’s important to know about the different types of quotation marks to use them appropriately when writing.

In this article, we’ll discuss quotation marks and their appropriate grammatical use.

What are quotation marks?

Quotation marks highlight a word, phrase, or sentence that is in some way different from the rest of the text. It could be a quotation from someone or some book, a proverb, maxim, word meaning, name, or anything else that requires special attention from the readers.

We also use quotation marks to ironically talk about something.

Consider the following examples:

• My school canteen serves “delicious” food
• He is a “progressive” in his beliefs

In the above sentences, the words ‘delicious’ and ‘progressive’ are meant to express the opposite of what they mean. The food in the school canteen is actually terrible, and the person’s beliefs aren’t really progressive. We generally need a context to understand when quotation marks are being used ironically.

Different quotation marks are used in different contexts. Let’s learn more about the variations of quotation marks.

Double and single quotation marks

• Double quotation marks: “”
• Single quotation marks: ‘Single’

When to use double quotation marks and when to use single quotation marks? The answer depends largely on which variation of English we are talking about. Single quotes are more common in British and Australian English. On the other hand, double quotation marks are more frequent in American and Canadian English.

When writing for a publication or journal, follow the in-house guidelines on using quotation marks. Some prefer double quotations, while others go for single quotation marks.

Consistency is often more important than the type of quotation mark used. When we primarily use double quotation marks, we don’t throw in single quotation marks for a few words and phrases – and vice versa .

The first time I went to France, I had this dish called “Bœuf bourguignon”. In English, we call it ‘beef Burgundy’. [Wrong]

I was reading ‘Don Quixote’. Sorry to say, but I hardly ‘enjoyed’ it. [Correct]

When unsure about using single or double quotation marks , stick to either and use them consistently.

Quotation marks inside quotation marks

Consider the following example:

• My teacher said, “Focus on ‘verbs’, ‘adjectives’, and ‘pronouns’ for the upcoming test.”
• My teacher said, ‘Focus on “verbs”, “adjectives”, and “pronouns” for the upcoming test.’

Both the above sentences are examples of correctly using quotation marks inside quotation marks. Choose either double or single quotation marks for the main sentence within quotes. As long as the main sentence is in single quotation marks, use double quotation marks for the words and phrases within it – and vice versa.

Be consistent with the use of quotation marks within quotation marks in a piece of writing. When following the [double quotes] (single quotes) [double quotes] template, use it consistently across the writing. Don’t switch to the [single quotes] (double quotes) [single quotes] template in the middle of the writing.

Block quotes

When quoting multiple lines from a person, book, article, or report, the convention is to use block quotes instead of quotation marks. Writing styles like Harvard, APA, MLA, and Chicago APSA have specific rules on using block quotes. Typically, block quotes are indented to the right and follow a colon (:). Here’s an example of using block quotes in writing:

The world is going through a climate crisis , according to experts from around the world. According to the latest Climate Change Report, we have serious issues to tackle in the near future:

There has been a rapid growth in carbon emission rates over the last decade. If governments and industrialists from developed countries don’t take active initiatives in combatting this phenomenon, we can expect serious catastrophes by the year 2050.

By changing the alignment of the text, it becomes clear that this section of article is taken from another source, which is the Climate Change Report in this case. Block quotes are common in books, long-form articles, research papers, and even news reports.

In digital mediums, extracts from other writing/articles would often be italicized. But it’s not mandatory, especially when following the guidelines of a writing style like APA, MLA, or Harvard. Consistency is crucial for block quotes as well.

Using quotation marks as literary tools

Apart from serving as a utility in writing, quotation marks are also literary tools for writers. They are frequently used to highlight ironic remarks.

• My friend took a 2-hour masterclass on making money. Now he’s a “financial expert”.
• Apparently, what we said caused a lot of “pain” and “discomfort”.
• I saw a movie last night and thought it was really “creative”.

In the above sentences, the words and phrases inside the quotation marks express the opposite of what they mean. Irony is a figure of speech where we mean the opposite of what we say.

It’s possible to use irony without quotation marks, but highlighting the ironic words makes it easier for the reader to understand the irony.

Quotation marks also highlight puns. For the uninitiated, a pun is a play on the different possible meanings of the same word.

Here are a few examples of using quotation marks for puns:

• You should trust a person who sells glue. They generally “stick” to their words.
• Though they are both musicians, they fail to strike a “chord”.
• The days in a calendar are “numbered”.

The above three sentences play on the different meanings of the same words – stick, chord, and numbered. We can use quotation marks to highlight the wordplay and grab the readers’ attention.

However, many writers choose to not put their puns and wordplay into quotation marks for the sake of subtlety and flow.

As always, when using quotation marks to highlight puns, use single or double quotation marks consistently throughout the reference (don’t mix and match quotation marks).

Quotation marks for titles of works

We use quotation marks for titles of literary works like poems, short stories, novels, movies, documentaries, etc. There are some conventions regarding how to use quotation marks for literary works. Let’s learn more about it.

Shorter works like poems, short stories, episodes

We generally put shorter literary works inside quotation marks.

• I was reading Keats’ “Ode to a Nightingale” yesterday.
• “The Last Leaf” is an amazing short story by O Henry.
• “The Last One” is the final episode of Friends .

In both of the above examples, we have put smaller pieces of literary works inside quotation marks. “The Last Leaf” is a short story while “Ode to a Nightingale” is a poem. Since these literary works are shorter in length than a novel or movie, the convention is to put these names inside quotation marks.

Longer works like novels, movies, books, documentaries

The convention for mentioning longer literary works is to italicize them. Most modern writing guides like MLA, APA, and Harvard ask writers to italicize longer works.

Here are some examples:

• My favorite movie is Nolan’s Inception.
• Lyrical Ballads is widely considered the most significant collection of romantic poems.
• “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” is a poem from the Lyrical Ballads .
• I have only read “The Fellowship of the Ring” from Lord of the Rings

Handwritten text

What will you do when you don’t have the option of italicizing the name of a book or movie? For example, how do we write the name of a longer work when writing an exam on a sheet of paper?

In these situations, here are a few things we can do:

• Underline the name of the work. For example, write “Lyrical Ballads is widely considered the most significant collection of romantic poems”.
• Underline the name and also put it inside quotation marks – “Lyrical Ballads” is widely considered the most significant collection of romantic poems.

What if we have to write about both shorter and longer literary works in a handwritten text?

In these cases, use a combination of quotation marks and underline, for example:

• “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” is a poem from the Lyrical Ballads.
• ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ is a poem from the “Lyrical Ballads”.

As always, be consistent with the adopted method. When underlining the names of major works, keep underlining all the names and don’t put them inside quotation marks in some cases. When we are putting the names inside quotation marks and also underlining them, we do the same for every name in a particular text.

Since these guidelines vary from one writing style to another, the best option is to refer to the official writing guide and style that is supposed to be followed.

Punctuation and quotation marks

There’s a lot of confusion regarding how to use punctuation inside quotation marks, particularly regarding where to put the full stop.

When quoting two or more sentences, the full stops will obviously be inside quotation marks.

Here are a few examples:

“My friend is a soldier. He is now serving in Afghanistan.”

“Look! What a beautiful sight!”

The main confusion here is where to put the final full stop – inside our outside quotation marks.

In American English, the full stops are generally inside quotation marks. For example:

“I am going to study.”

“Mary was wearing a beautiful dress.”

In British English, the final full stops are always outside quotation marks.

For example:

“I am going to study”.

“Mary was wearing a beautiful dress”.

When it comes to question and exclamation marks, the position of the punctuation marks depends on the phrase inside the quotation marks.

• She asked, “Do you want to have a cup of coffee?”
• Have you seen “The Wolf of Wall Street”?
• Mary exclaimed, “This can’t be true!”
• John was surprised that she had never heard of “Once upon a Time in Hollywood”!

Remember these basic rules on punctuation marks and quotation marks to never get their usage wrong.

Straight quotes vs. curly quotes

Both straight quotes and curly (smart) quotes are correct. 

Straight quotes look like this: “straight quotes”

Curly quotes look like this: “curly quotes”

Curly/smart quotes are automatically added in all modern word processing software. It’s more of an aesthetic element than a grammatical nuance. The important thing here is to be consistent with the type of quotes used in an article. Use either curly or straight quotes throughout the article/writing.

Quotation marks while speaking

Until now, we only discussed the use of quotation marks in writing. But what about speaking — be it a casual conversation or a narration? The answer is simple.

We say one of these two things:

• Quote-unquote
• And I quote
• He is a quote-unquote hardworking person, but in reality, he exploits the vulnerabilities of other people.
• John said, and I quote, the world can only be a better place if we start helping each other.

Sometimes the speaker would say “end of quote” to signify where the quote ends, and sometimes it’s implied.

Other punctuation marks

Here are the other punctuation marks to be aware of:

The main types of quotation marks are:

• Single quotes: ‘single quotes’
• Double quotes: “double quotes”
• Straight quotes: “straight quotes”
• Curly/smart quotes: “double quotes”

Either say:

• Quote-unquote, for example, John is a quote-unquote cruel person but he has a heart of gold .
• And I quote, for example, John said, and I quote, the world is going through an unprecedented crisis right now.

When typing in a word processor, always italicize the names of books, movies, and other longer literary texts. When writing on a sheet of paper, underline the titles of longer literary works. These conventions also depend on specific citation guides like MLA, APA, and Harvard.

Th double quotes and single quotes ” ” or ‘ ‘ are used at beginning and the end of a direction quotation. For direct quotations, we would typically use double quotes. Use one of the two, according to which type of sentence you have. Although, use the same type throughout your writing.

A closing quotation mark (or final quotation mark) is identified as ”, it has a slight lean to the right side (visually).

• Quotation Marks: When to Use Single or Double Quotes | Scribendi
• Curly quotes and straight quotes: a quick guide – Writer
• Quotation marks in English – Wikipedia
• Quotation Marks “” | Writing | EnglishClub
• Quotation Marks: How To Use Them Correctly (With Examples) | Grammarly
• How to Block Quote | Length, Format and Examples (scribbr.com)
• Examples of Puns: Exploring What They Are and Different Types (yourdictionary.com)

Inside this article

Fact checked: Content is rigorously reviewed by a team of qualified and experienced fact checkers. Fact checkers review articles for factual accuracy, relevance, and timeliness. Learn more.

About the author

Dalia Y.: Dalia is an English Major and linguistics expert with an additional degree in Psychology. Dalia has featured articles on Forbes, Inc, Fast Company, Grammarly, and many more. She covers English, ESL, and all things grammar on GrammarBrain.

Core lessons

• Abstract Noun
• Accusative Case
• Active Sentence
• Alliteration
• Adjective Clause
• Adjective Phrase
• Adverbial Clause
• Appositive Phrase
• Body Paragraph
• Compound Adjective
• Complex Sentence
• Compound Words
• Compound Predicate
• Common Noun
• Comparative Adjective
• Comparative and Superlative
• Compound Noun
• Compound Subject
• Compound Sentence
• Copular Verb
• Collective Noun
• Colloquialism
• Conciseness
• Conditional
• Concrete Noun
• Conjunction
• Conjugation
• Conditional Sentence
• Comma Splice
• Correlative Conjunction
• Coordinating Conjunction
• Coordinate Adjective
• Cumulative Adjective
• Dative Case
• Declarative Statement
• Direct Object Pronoun
• Direct Object
• Dangling Modifier
• Demonstrative Pronoun
• Demonstrative Adjective
• Direct Characterization
• Definite Article
• Doublespeak
• Equivocation Fallacy
• Future Perfect Progressive
• Future Simple
• Future Perfect Continuous
• Future Perfect
• First Conditional
• Gerund Phrase
• Genitive Case
• Helping Verb
• Irregular Adjective
• Irregular Verb
• Imperative Sentence
• Indefinite Article
• Intransitive Verb
• Introductory Phrase
• Indefinite Pronoun
• Indirect Characterization
• Interrogative Sentence
• Intensive Pronoun
• Inanimate Object
• Indefinite Tense
• Infinitive Phrase
• Interjection
• Intensifier
• Indicative Mood
• Juxtaposition
• Linking Verb
• Misplaced Modifier
• Nominative Case
• Noun Adjective
• Object Pronoun
• Object Complement
• Order of Adjectives
• Parallelism
• Prepositional Phrase
• Past Simple Tense
• Past Continuous Tense
• Past Perfect Tense
• Past Progressive Tense
• Present Simple Tense
• Present Perfect Tense
• Personal Pronoun
• Personification
• Persuasive Writing
• Parallel Structure
• Phrasal Verb
• Predicate Adjective
• Predicate Nominative
• Phonetic Language
• Plural Noun
• Punctuation
• Punctuation Marks
• Preposition
• Preposition of Place
• Parts of Speech
• Possessive Adjective
• Possessive Determiner
• Possessive Case
• Possessive Noun
• Proper Adjective
• Proper Noun
• Present Participle
• Quotation Marks
• Relative Pronoun
• Reflexive Pronoun
• Reciprocal Pronoun
• Subordinating Conjunction
• Simple Future Tense
• Stative Verb
• Subjunctive
• Subject Complement
• Subject of a Sentence
• Sentence Variety
• Second Conditional
• Superlative Adjective
• Slash Symbol
• Topic Sentence
• Types of Nouns
• Types of Sentences
• Uncountable Noun
• Vowels and Consonants

Popular lessons

Stay awhile. Your weekly dose of grammar and English fun.

The world's best online resource for learning English. Understand words, phrases, slang terms, and all other variations of the English language.

• Abbreviations
• Editorial Policy

Have a thesis expert improve your writing

Check your thesis for plagiarism in 10 minutes, generate your apa citations for free.

• Knowledge Base
• Working with sources
• How to Quote | Citing Quotes in Harvard & APA

How to Quote | Citing Quotes in Harvard & APA

Published on 15 April 2022 by Shona McCombes and Jack Caulfield. Revised on 3 September 2022.

Quoting means copying a passage of someone else’s words and crediting the source. To quote a source, you must ensure:

• The quoted text is enclosed in quotation marks (usually single quotation marks in UK English, though double is acceptable as long as you’re consistent) or formatted as a block quote
• The original author is correctly cited
• The text is identical to the original

The exact format of a quote depends on its length and on which citation style you are using. Quoting and citing correctly is essential to avoid plagiarism , which is easy to detect with a good plagiarism checker .

Instantly correct all language mistakes in your text

Be assured that you'll submit flawless writing. Upload your document to correct all your mistakes.

Table of contents

How to cite a quote in harvard and apa style, introducing quotes, quotes within quotes, shortening or altering a quote, block quotes, when should i use quotes, frequently asked questions about quoting sources.

Every time you quote, you must cite the source correctly . This looks slightly different depending on the citation style you’re using.

Citing a quote in Harvard style

When you include a quote in Harvard style, you must add a Harvard in-text citation giving the author’s last name, the year of publication, and a page number if available. Any full stop or comma appears after the citation, not within the quotation marks.

Citations can be parenthetical or narrative. In a parenthetical citation , you place all the information in brackets after the quote. In a narrative citation , you name the author in your sentence (followed by the year), and place the page number after the quote.

• Evolution is a gradual process that ‘can act only by very short and slow steps’ (Darwin, 1859, p. 510) . Darwin (1859) explains that evolution ‘can act only by very short and slow steps’ (p. 510) .

Complete guide to Harvard style

Citing a quote in APA Style

To cite a direct quote in APA , you must include the author’s last name, the year, and a page number, all separated by commas. If the quote appears on a single page, use ‘p.’; if it spans a page range, use ‘pp.’

An APA in-text citation can be parenthetical or narrative. In a parenthetical citation , you place all the information in parentheses after the quote. In a narrative citation , you name the author in your sentence (followed by the year), and place the page number after the quote.

Punctuation marks such as full stops and commas are placed after the citation, not within the quotation marks.

• Evolution is a gradual process that ‘can act only by very short and slow steps’ (Darwin, 1859, p. 510) .
• Darwin (1859) explains that evolution ‘can act only by very short and slow steps’ (p. 510) .

Complete guide to APA

The only proofreading tool specialized in correcting academic writing.

The academic proofreading tool has been trained on 1000s of academic texts and by native English editors. Making it the most accurate and reliable proofreading tool for students.

Correct my document today

Make sure you integrate quotes properly into your text by introducing them in your own words, showing the reader why you’re including the quote and providing any context necessary to understand it.  Don’t  present quotations as stand-alone sentences.

There are three main strategies you can use to introduce quotes in a grammatically correct way:

• Add an introductory sentence
• Use an introductory signal phrase
• Integrate the quote into your own sentence

The following examples use APA Style citations, but these strategies can be used in all styles.

Introductory sentence

Introduce the quote with a full sentence ending in a colon . Don’t use a colon if the text before the quote isn’t a full sentence.

If you name the author in your sentence, you may use present-tense verbs, such as “states’, ‘argues’, ‘explains’, ‘writes’, or ‘reports’, to describe the content of the quote.

• In Denmark, a recent poll shows that: ‘A membership referendum held today would be backed by 55 percent of Danish voters’ (Levring, 2018, p. 3).
• In Denmark, a recent poll shows that support for the EU has grown since the Brexit vote: ‘A membership referendum held today would be backed by 55 percent of Danish voters’ (Levring, 2018, p. 3).
• Levring (2018) reports that support for the EU has grown since the Brexit vote: ‘A membership referendum held today would be backed by 55 percent of Danish voters’ (p. 3).

Introductory signal phrase

You can also use a signal phrase that mentions the author or source but doesn’t form a full sentence. In this case, you follow the phrase with a comma instead of a colon.

• According to a recent poll, ‘A membership referendum held today would be backed by 55 percent of Danish voters’ (Levring, 2018, p. 3).
• As Levring (2018) explains, ‘A membership referendum held today would be backed by 55 percent of Danish voters’ (p. 3).

Integrated into your own sentence

To quote a phrase that doesn’t form a full sentence, you can also integrate it as part of your sentence, without any extra punctuation.

• A recent poll suggests that EU membership ‘would be backed by 55 percent of Danish voters’ in a referendum (Levring, 2018, p. 3).
• Levring (2018) reports that EU membership ‘would be backed by 55 percent of Danish voters’ in a referendum (p. 3).

When you quote text that itself contains another quote, this is called a nested quotation or a quote within a quote. It may occur, for example, when quoting dialogue from a novel.

To distinguish this quote from the surrounding quote, you enclose it in double (instead of single) quotation marks (even if this involves changing the punctuation from the original text). Make sure to close both sets of quotation marks at the appropriate moments.

Note that if you only quote the nested quotation itself, and not the surrounding text, you can just use single quotation marks.

• Carraway introduces his narrative by quoting his father: ‘ ‘ Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone, ‘ he told me, ‘ just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had ‘ ‘ (Fitzgerald 1).
• Carraway introduces his narrative by quoting his father: ‘”Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone,” he told me, “just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had “  (Fitzgerald 1).
• Carraway introduces his narrative by quoting his father: ‘“Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone,” he told me, “just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had”’ (Fitzgerald 1).
• Carraway begins by quoting his father’s invocation to ‘remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had’ (Fitzgerald 1).

Note:  When the quoted text in the source comes from another source, it’s best to just find that original source in order to quote it directly. If you can’t find the original source, you can instead cite it indirectly .

Often, incorporating a quote smoothly into your text requires you to make some changes to the original text. It’s fine to do this, as long as you clearly mark the changes you’ve made to the quote.

Shortening a quote

If some parts of a passage are redundant or irrelevant, you can shorten the quote by removing words, phrases, or sentences and replacing them with an ellipsis (…). Put a space before and after the ellipsis.

Be careful that removing the words doesn’t change the meaning. The ellipsis indicates that some text has been removed, but the shortened quote should still accurately represent the author’s point.

Altering a quote

You can add or replace words in a quote when necessary. This might be because the original text doesn’t fit grammatically with your sentence (e.g., it’s in a different tense), or because extra information is needed to clarify the quote’s meaning.

Use brackets to distinguish words that you have added from words that were present in the original text.

The Latin term ‘ sic ‘ is used to indicate a (factual or grammatical) mistake in a quotation. It shows the reader that the mistake is from the quoted material, not a typo of your own.

In some cases, it can be useful to italicise part of a quotation to add emphasis, showing the reader that this is the key part to pay attention to. Use the phrase ’emphasis added’ to show that the italics were not part of the original text.

You usually don’t need to use brackets to indicate minor changes to punctuation or capitalisation made to ensure the quote fits the style of your text.

If you quote more than a few lines from a source, you must format it as a block quote . Instead of using quotation marks, you set the quote on a new line and indent it so that it forms a separate block of text.

Block quotes are cited just like regular quotes, except that if the quote ends with a full stop, the citation appears after the full stop.

To the end of his days Bilbo could never remember how he found himself outside, without a hat, a walking-stick or any money, or anything that he usually took when he went out; leaving his second breakfast half-finished and quite unwashed-up, pushing his keys into Gandalf’s hands, and running as fast as his furry feet could carry him down the lane, past the great Mill, across The Water, and then on for a mile or more. (16)

Avoid relying too heavily on quotes in academic writing . To integrate a source , it’s often best to paraphrase , which means putting the passage into your own words. This helps you integrate information smoothly and keeps your own voice dominant.

However, there are some situations in which quotes are more appropriate.

When focusing on language

If you want to comment on how the author uses language (for example, in literary analysis ), it’s necessary to quote so that the reader can see the exact passage you are referring to.

When giving evidence

To convince the reader of your argument, interpretation or position on a topic, it’s often helpful to include quotes that support your point. Quotes from primary sources (for example, interview transcripts or historical documents) are especially credible as evidence.

When presenting an author’s position or definition

When you’re referring to secondary sources such as scholarly books and journal articles, try to put others’ ideas in your own words when possible.

But if a passage does a great job at expressing, explaining, or defining something, and it would be very difficult to paraphrase without changing the meaning or losing the weakening the idea’s impact, it’s worth quoting directly.

A quote is an exact copy of someone else’s words, usually enclosed in quotation marks and credited to the original author or speaker.

To present information from other sources in academic writing , it’s best to paraphrase in most cases. This shows that you’ve understood the ideas you’re discussing and incorporates them into your text smoothly.

It’s appropriate to quote when:

• Changing the phrasing would distort the meaning of the original text
• You want to discuss the author’s language choices (e.g., in literary analysis )
• You’re presenting a precise definition
• You’re looking in depth at a specific claim

Every time you quote a source , you must include a correctly formatted in-text citation . This looks slightly different depending on the citation style .

For example, a direct quote in APA is cited like this: ‘This is a quote’ (Streefkerk, 2020, p. 5).

Every in-text citation should also correspond to a full reference at the end of your paper.

In scientific subjects, the information itself is more important than how it was expressed, so quoting should generally be kept to a minimum. In the arts and humanities, however, well-chosen quotes are often essential to a good paper.

In social sciences, it varies. If your research is mainly quantitative , you won’t include many quotes, but if it’s more qualitative , you may need to quote from the data you collected .

As a general guideline, quotes should take up no more than 5–10% of your paper. If in doubt, check with your instructor or supervisor how much quoting is appropriate in your field.

If you’re quoting from a text that paraphrases or summarises other sources and cites them in parentheses , APA  recommends retaining the citations as part of the quote:

• Smith states that ‘the literature on this topic (Jones, 2015; Sill, 2019; Paulson, 2020) shows no clear consensus’ (Smith, 2019, p. 4).

Footnote or endnote numbers that appear within quoted text should be omitted.

If you want to cite an indirect source (one you’ve only seen quoted in another source), either locate the original source or use the phrase ‘as cited in’ in your citation.

A block quote is a long quote formatted as a separate ‘block’ of text. Instead of using quotation marks , you place the quote on a new line, and indent the entire quote to mark it apart from your own words.

APA uses block quotes for quotes that are 40 words or longer.

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the ‘Cite this Scribbr article’ button to automatically add the citation to our free Reference Generator.

McCombes, S. & Caulfield, J. (2022, September 03). How to Quote | Citing Quotes in Harvard & APA. Scribbr. Retrieved 14 May 2024, from https://www.scribbr.co.uk/working-sources/quoting/

Is this article helpful?

Shona McCombes

Other students also liked, how to paraphrase | step-by-step guide & examples, how to avoid plagiarism | tips on citing sources, the 5 types of plagiarism | explanations & examples.

Writing Style Guide

Punctuation: quotation marks.

Double quotation marks are used for direct quotations and titles of compositions such as books, plays, movies, songs, lectures and TV shows. They also can be used to indicate irony and introduce an unfamiliar term or nickname.

Single quotation marks are used for a quote within a quote. ("I knew I wanted to come to WMU when President Dunn said, 'We're committed to your success.'") Although they are usually unnecessary, single quotation marks also can be used in headlines that contain a quote or composition title.

Do not place in quotation marks : names of newspapers, magazines, central texts of a religion (Bible, Koran), dictionaries, handbooks and reference books. Names of concertos, operas, overtures, sonatas, suites and symphonies, such as Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6, are not placed in quotes, but if the work also has a title, the title is placed in quotes. (Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6, "Pathetique.")

Do not place in quotation marks names of events (tailgate party, retirement reception), even if it is a unique event with a proper name (Bronco Bash). The title of a lecture is placed in quotes, the name of a lecture series is not (Sichel Lecture Series).

Running quotations : If a full paragraph of quoted material is followed by a paragraph that continues the quotation, do not use closing quotation marks at the end of the first paragraph, but do use opening quotation marks at the start the second paragraph. Continue this pattern, using closing quotation marks only at the very end of the quoted material.

Placement with other punctuation : A period or comma always go inside closing quotation marks. ("We hope to win the game," he said.) A dash, semicolon, question mark and exclamation point go inside closing quotation marks when the punctuation applies to the quotation itself and outside when it applies to the whole sentence.

Who said "Ask not what your country can do for you"? He asked, "What time is it?"

Quotes When Nothing Is Being Quoted

Authors often use quotation marks when nothing is being quoted. The marks may indicate irony, skepticism, derision—as such, they are sometimes called scare quotes . They distance an author from a term: “Others say this, but I wouldn’t.” Example: “Bob experienced the ‘catastrophe’ of having his tooth pulled.” Bob may have thought it was a catastrophe, but the author of the sentence is letting us know that she does not.

Such distancing is particularly important when a topic is politically sensitive: authors do not want their readers to think, even for a moment, that they endorse a racist or sexist opinion that they are describing or giving an account of.

Quotation marks may also suggest that the term so singled out has a sense slightly different from what is usually meant by it. Example: “Bob wore his usual ‘suit’ to the interview.” The author of the sentence is suggesting that it was not actually a suit. Perhaps Bob pulls out the same threadbare, rumpled blazer whenever he needs to dress up. Or perhaps Bob only ever wears a hoodie and jeans—his version of business attire.

Quotation marks may also be used to emphasize or highlight a term, much as italics or capitalization can serve as a typographic aid to draw attention. Example: “At the ‘burger joint,’ Bob ordered sushi.” The author of the sentence doesn’t want us to miss the culinary incongruity.

The context and the writing may make the intention of the quotation marks clear, but more often than not there is no such clarity. Precisely because there are so many possible ways to interpret quotation marks that are not used for quotation, some uncertainty results, some ambiguity—and, even if the ambiguity is a relatively small matter, we recommend against using them or using them sparingly and with explanation.

13 Comments

Connie beglinger 05 june 2017 at 09:06 pm.

Quote from another source: "Now is the time for all good men." Now I want to use this quote in my paper. How do I punctuate? "'Now is the time for all good men.'"

Your e-mail address will not be published

Michael Kandel 07 June 2017 AT 01:06 PM

Double quotes alone do the job. (We will have coterminous double and single quotes only around a short title for a parenthetical reference, where the short title is taken from a quote that begins the title--uncommon and not worth worrying about.)

sevda 30 April 2020 AT 09:04 AM

when I can use single quotations? I know in double quotations. But where else? For example, if I quote a term before and I want to use it later in my paper Can I use it in single quotation marks? Thank you.

Jennifer A. Rappaport 30 April 2020 AT 01:04 PM

Thanks for your question. In MLA style, single quotation marks are generally only used within double quotation marks. We use italics for terms and words used as words.

Constance Gurney 02 December 2020 AT 11:12 AM

A student wants to draw attention to the term bad person in her essay. She has used single quotations. I would use double. Or should she italicize.

Jennifer A. Rappaport 03 December 2020 AT 07:12 AM

Thanks for your question. In MLA style, italics are used for emphasis, but we recommend using italics for this purpose sparingly.

Suchetana Sarkar 08 December 2020 AT 01:12 PM

Can I use a word or phrase within single quotations when I want to express that the quoted word/ phrase has deeper underlying meaning and/ or is a controversial word?

Jennifer A. Rappaport 09 December 2020 AT 07:12 AM

Thanks for your question. In MLA style, double quotation marks are used in this case.

Janet 29 July 2021 AT 12:07 PM

I know that we should be using double quotes to identify that a word is ironic or used with some reservation. But, if this word appears in the same sentence as a quotation, how do I indicate the difference between the quote and the word that I used ironically?

Laura Kiernan 24 September 2021 AT 02:09 PM

We would suggest rephrasing the sentence so both the quotation and the ironically used term are not in the same sentence. If rephrasing isn't possible, you could include an endnote that makes it clear that the word is being used ironically and is not part of the quotation elsewhere in sentence.

Eli 13 September 2022 AT 05:09 AM

Continuing this question - if the ironic word is far from a quote but is in what is intended as an academic paper with many other quotes, does not citing it do enough to distinguish this difference or is there a more accepted way of distinguishing the two beyond distance?

Julie R 26 January 2023 AT 03:01 PM

I read a post recently written by a guy who had been scammed by someone identifying themselves as an employee of Microsoft. In his post the guy used quotation marks around the word "someone" to indicate the scammer was not actually from Microsoft like this: ... from "someone" at Microsoft. (I left out the other quotes. They muddled the example.) A reader replied to his post saying the quotes should have been around Microsoft. She said the someone wasn't questionable. That they were from Microsoft was. To me it makes it feels better with the quotes around the entire phrase, "someone at Microsoft". Which is correct?

Student 11 March 2023 AT 11:03 PM

Hi, I am a college student writing an essay about Nella Larsen's Passing in which a character uses the N word. My question is how do I quote instances of derogatory vocabulary in an academic paper?

Join the Conversation

We invite you to comment on this post and exchange ideas with other site visitors. Comments are moderated and subject to terms of service.

If you have a question for the MLA's editors, submit it to Ask the MLA!

Quote Within a Quote – Guide and Examples

| Candace Osmond

| Punctuation

Candace Osmond

Candace Osmond studied Advanced Writing & Editing Essentials at MHC. She’s been an International and USA TODAY Bestselling Author for over a decade. And she’s worked as an Editor for several mid-sized publications. Candace has a keen eye for content editing and a high degree of expertise in Fiction.

Many English writers get confused about the English guidelines on quoting within a quote. Where should you place the single quotes? When do we use the double quotes?

Let’s discuss the basic rules on how to quote a quote. I also shared some sentence examples that will help you understand the topic.

How to Quote a Quote

The basic rule for quoting within a quote is using single quotation marks within double quotation marks. This structure is called a nested quotation, which follows a hierarchy of alternating between double and single quotes.

• “Notice how the poem said, ‘With no sign of wan, he soldiered on, and brought us back to life,’” said the teacher.

The example above uses single quotes within double quotes as the American rule. The main quote is enclosed within double speech marks, while the quotation within the quotation is enclosed in single marks.

At the end of every sentence, single and double marks should appear as a matching closing quotation mark. This signals the end of the inner and outer quotations.

Below are more examples:

• Joshua told Bobbi, “Mary says, ‘Let’s go out tomorrow.’”
• “We don’t all have the same ‘privilege’ as you,” Karen exclaimed.

Another essential rule is to use the same opening and closing speech marks.

• Incorrect: Joshua told Bobbi, “Mary says, ‘Let’s go out tomorrow.’
• Correct: Joshua told Bobbi, “Mary says, ‘Let’s go out tomorrow.’”

To use a quote within a quote within another quote, that means the innermost mark should be double marks.

• Mae asked her followers, “What do you think about the brand closing down ‘due to private reasons, which the CEO deems “a wise choice”’?”

How to Quote a Quote with Exclamation Points

Quoting with exclamation points and question marks also follows the American-style quotation marks. But unlike periods, exclamation points and question marks can be placed in quotations within quotations.

Remember to place the punctuation mark within the single closing quotation mark.

• The professor told the class, “Henri Nouwen asked, ‘Did I offer peace today?’”

But if the question is within the outer quotation marks, then the question mark should be between the single and double quotation marks. This also means that the question mark should come before the outermost quotation mark.

• The professor asked the class, “Which philosopher said, ‘The unexamined life is not worth living’?”

Notice there’s no period after the inner quote’s last word, “living.” That’s because one of the many quotation mark rules is that the stronger mark wins. Exclamation points and question marks are “stronger” than periods, so there’s no need to add one.

How to Quote Multiple Quotes in One Sentence

It’s also possible to quote multiple quotes within a quote in only one sentence.

• In his speech, Eddie told the people, “My brother told me, ‘Just forget about it,’ but my friends said, ‘never give up.’”
• I remember my grandfather saying, “‘Be strong’ and ‘Keep smiling’ were the daily reminders I had for myself.”

In the sentence above, two quotations are enclosed within double quotation marks.

When to Use Apostrophes

Apostrophes are known as the most abused punctuation marks in the English language. Never use them to quote statements. Instead, they should only have two functions: to show possession and to indicate a contraction.

• Lane’s favorite show is Peaky Blinders.
• You shouldn’t mention his name to Jia again.

Double apostrophe marks are also not substitutes for double quote marks.

• Incorrect: Ian asked, ‘’Who’s the new headmaster?’’
• Correct: Ian asked, “Who’s the new headmaster?”

When to Use Colons When Quoting

Creative writers can choose whether they want to use commas or colons for dialogues. In formal writing , commas are more common. However, some style guides recommend using a colon if the introduction is an independent clause.

• The tour guides always have the same advice to tourists: “Do not feed them, or they will attack you.”
• The author’s words struck me: “Go if it hurts. Go if it’s time.”

Another rule for colons vs. quotation marks is to use a comma if the introduction is not an independent clause.

• Incorrect: My daughter looked up to me and said: “Mom, I’m sleepy.”
• Correct: My daughter looked up to me and said, “Mom, I’m sleepy.”

You can only use a comma after a quotation.

For example:

• Incorrect: “Don’t look down:” Paul told Isabel.
• Correct: “Don’t look down,” Paul told Isabel.
• Paul told Isabel: “Don’t look down.”

How to Use Semicolons in Quotes Within Quotes

It gets more complex when unusual punctuation marks are inside quotes within quotes. But you can use semicolons the same way we use them outside quotations.

• The scientist stated, “At the beginning of the research, the participants described the food as ‘moderately spicy’; at the end, they described it as ‘very spicy.’”

Quotes Within Quotes in British English

You might also find in an essay or book that the systems of speech marks are the opposite. These are usually British writing pieces. The single quote marks are for outer quotes, while double quote marks are for inner quotes.

• The speaker told the crowd, ‘I hear someone saying, “Me too”’.
• She said, “My favorite episode from the show is ‘The One With the Prom Video’”.

Notice how the period is outside the outer quotes. British English punctuation rules state that commas and periods are always outside the closing quotation mark. The only exception is when the marks are part of the quotation.

Summary of Quoting Within Quotes

I hope this guide helps English writers correctly use quotes within quotes. Remember, if you’re a British writer:

• Single quotes should enclose the main quote.
• Put the periods and commas outside quotation marks.

But if you write for Americans:

• Double quotes should enclose the main quote.
• Put periods and commas inside quotation marks.

Grammarist is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. When you buy via the links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission at no cost to you.

2024 © Grammarist, a Found First Marketing company. All rights reserved.

Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

MLA Formatting Quotations

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

When you directly quote the works of others in your paper, you will format quotations differently depending on their length. Below are some basic guidelines for incorporating quotations into your paper. Please note that all pages in MLA should be double-spaced .

Short quotations

To indicate short quotations (four typed lines or fewer of prose or three lines of verse) in your text, enclose the quotation within double quotation marks. Provide the author and specific page number (in the case of verse, provide line numbers) in the in-text citation, and include a complete reference on the Works Cited page. Punctuation marks such as periods, commas, and semicolons should appear after the parenthetical citation.

Question marks and exclamation points should appear within the quotation marks if they are a part of the quoted passage, but after the parenthetical citation if they are a part of your text.

For example, when quoting short passages of prose, use the following examples:

When using short (fewer than three lines of verse) quotations from poetry, mark breaks in verse with a slash, ( / ), at the end of each line of verse (a space should precede and follow the slash). If a stanza break occurs during the quotation, use a double slash ( // ).

Long quotations

For quotations that are more than four lines of prose or three lines of verse, place quotations in a free-standing block of text and omit quotation marks. Start the quotation on a new line, with the entire quote indented 1/2   inch  from the left margin while maintaining double-spacing. Your parenthetical citation should come  after the closing punctuation mark . When quoting verse, maintain original line breaks. (You should maintain double-spacing throughout your essay.)

For example, when citing more than four lines of prose, use the following examples :

Nelly Dean treats Heathcliff poorly and dehumanizes him throughout her narration: They entirely refused to have it in bed with them, or even in their room, and I had no more sense, so, I put it on the landing of the stairs, hoping it would be gone on the morrow. By chance, or else attracted by hearing his voice, it crept to Mr. Earnshaw's door, and there he found it on quitting his chamber. Inquiries were made as to how it got there; I was obliged to confess, and in recompense for my cowardice and inhumanity was sent out of the house. (Bronte 78)

When citing long sections of poetry (four lines of verse or more), keep formatting as close to the original as possible.

In his poem "My Papa's Waltz," Theodore Roethke explores his childhood with his father:

The whiskey on your breath Could make a small boy dizzy; But I hung on like death: Such waltzing was not easy. We Romped until the pans Slid from the kitchen shelf; My mother's countenance Could not unfrown itself. (qtd. in Shrodes, Finestone, Shugrue 202)

When citing two or more paragraphs, use block quotation format, even if the passage from the paragraphs is less than four lines. If you cite more than one paragraph, the first line of the second paragraph should be indented an extra 1/4 inch to denote a new paragraph:

In "American Origins of the Writing-across-the-Curriculum Movement," David Russell argues,

Writing has been an issue in American secondary and higher education since papers and examinations came into wide use in the 1870s, eventually driving out formal recitation and oral examination. . . .

From its birth in the late nineteenth century, progressive education has wrestled with the conflict within industrial society between pressure to increase specialization of knowledge and of professional work (upholding disciplinary standards) and pressure to integrate more fully an ever-widening number of citizens into intellectually meaningful activity within mass society (promoting social equity). . . . (3)

Adding or omitting words in quotations

If you add a word or words in a quotation, you should put brackets around the words to indicate that they are not part of the original text:

If you omit a word or words from a quotation, you should indicate the deleted word or words by using ellipses, which are three periods ( . . . ) preceded and followed by a space. For example:

Please note that brackets are not needed around ellipses unless they would add clarity.

When omitting words from poetry quotations, use a standard three-period ellipses; however, when omitting one or more full lines of poetry, space several periods to about the length of a complete line in the poem:

NDWorks Campus news for faculty and staff

• Home ›
• Latest ›

Editor’s Note: Single or double quotes?

by Brittany Kaufman

March 28, 2024

Welcome to Editor’s Note! This month, let’s take a deep dive into when to use single quotation marks vs. double quotation marks.

This is another one of the most common edits I make. The reason, once again, is that this is an area where language is changing. It used to be that using single quotation marks around a quote was strictly a British thing, and Americans used double quotes. Thanks to a few different influences—typing on phones, among other things—this is starting to change, and the use of single quotes is much more common on this side of the pond than it used to be.

However, for University writing, we want to follow what is still considered proper American English. We also want to stay consistent. Let’s break down which punctuation marks to use in different circumstances.

Double quotes

“Double quotes (used here)” are the ones most of you will think of when thinking about quotation marks. Double quotes are used in the following cases:

Around direct quotes. This is the most common use of quotation marks.

• “Don’t let me forget to send that email,” she said.

Around certain terms. Many writers will add double quotes around new words or terms that might be unfamiliar to the reader, or around words that they want to call attention to.

• Most typesetters refer to the spaces between lines of text as “leading.”
• Prospective students should visit the homepage and click on the “Admissions” button.

As so-called scare quotes. Scare quotes are used around words or terms being used ironically or sarcastically, or where writers want to distance themselves from a word. These are best avoided in formal writing.

• “Child protection” sometimes fails to protect.
• My 4-year-old niece made me some Play-Doh “cookies” yesterday.

Around certain titles. Following Chicago style, quote marks are added around titles of short works—e.g., essays, book chapters, newspaper articles, TV episode names, etc.

Single quotes

‘Single quotes (used here)’ should be used only in limited cases.

In headlines. If a word or phrase is being quoted in a headline, use a single quote, even if the phrase is in double quotes in the story.

• Fighting Irish ‘come home’ to Dublin
• ‘You’ve got power; use it’: Nobel laureate Maria Ressa speaks on democracy at Notre Dame Forum event

Around a quote within a quote. If a word or phrase that would ordinarily be in double quotes is used within a direct quote from someone, change the double quotes to single quotes to avoid confusion for the reader.

• “To quote your favorite movie, ‘I just want to tell you both good luck. We’re all counting on you,’” she told him.

This ends the list of appropriate places to use single quotes, at least in formal writing.

The Chicago Manual of Style —which anyone with an NDID can access online for free through the Hesburgh Libraries—contains multiple entries about quotation marks across a few chapters. Here are a few good references if you ever have a question:

6.114 — Quotation marks relative to other punctuation and text 6.40 — Commas with quotations 7.57 — “Scare quotes” Chapter 13 — Quotations and Dialogue

A commencement refresher

The 2024 Commencement Weekend is quickly approaching. For a University style refresher on terms related to commencement, check out the Editor’s Note newsletter from last March .

Following University style, what’s the preferred spelling for this word?

• live stream
• live-stream

A note about the pop quiz Please think of these monthly quizzes as open-book! I don’t expect you to know the answer off the top of your head. I designed these quizzes, in fact, to get readers more comfortable using the University Style Guide to find the answer. You are encouraged to consult that before submitting your answer.

February pop quiz winner

Congrats to Leigh Lynes , project manager for the Notre Dame Poverty Initiative, the winner of the February pop quiz!

Following University style, what’s the preferred spelling for this word? health care

Following Merriam-Webster , the preferred spelling is health care , two words, in all cases.

What we’re reading

These are stories that we found to be interesting, fun, or thought-provoking. The views are not necessarily endorsed. Want to share a story you found? Feel free to send it to me.

Microsoft Word’s Subtle Typeface Change Affected Millions. Did You Notice? The New York Times

Merriam-Webster says you can end a sentence with a preposition. The internet goes off NPR

If you’re still using these dated words, you’re not alone The Washington Post

Georgia college student used Grammarly, now she is on academic probation Fox 5 Atlanta

Everyone needs an editor. Lyft just learned it the hard way CNN Business

Latest style guide updates

emeritus, emerita, emeriti

Emeritus is the term for males, emerita for females, and emeriti for more than one of either sex. There is no need to capitalize the term unless it’s part of an official title. When referring to a group of people with emeritus status, use professors emeriti or faculty emeriti .

Editor’s Note is a monthly email that goes out to anyone who communicates on the University’s behalf.

Did someone forward you this email and you’d like to get on the mailing list? Please fill out this form .

• PRO Courses Guides New Tech Help Pro Expert Videos About wikiHow Pro Upgrade Sign In
• EDIT Edit this Article
• EXPLORE Tech Help Pro About Us Random Article Quizzes Request a New Article Community Dashboard This Or That Game Popular Categories Arts and Entertainment Artwork Books Movies Computers and Electronics Computers Phone Skills Technology Hacks Health Men's Health Mental Health Women's Health Relationships Dating Love Relationship Issues Hobbies and Crafts Crafts Drawing Games Education & Communication Communication Skills Personal Development Studying Personal Care and Style Fashion Hair Care Personal Hygiene Youth Personal Care School Stuff Dating All Categories Arts and Entertainment Finance and Business Home and Garden Relationship Quizzes Cars & Other Vehicles Food and Entertaining Personal Care and Style Sports and Fitness Computers and Electronics Health Pets and Animals Travel Education & Communication Hobbies and Crafts Philosophy and Religion Work World Family Life Holidays and Traditions Relationships Youth
• Browse Articles
• Learn Something New
• Quizzes Hot
• This Or That Game
• Train Your Brain
• Explore More
• Support wikiHow
• About wikiHow
• Log in / Sign up
• Education and Communications
• College University and Postgraduate
• Academic Writing

How to Put a Quote in an Essay

Last Updated: November 28, 2022 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Christopher Taylor, PhD and by wikiHow staff writer, Danielle Blinka, MA, MPA . Christopher Taylor is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of English at Austin Community College in Texas. He received his PhD in English Literature and Medieval Studies from the University of Texas at Austin in 2014. There are 11 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 2,642,017 times.

Using a direct quote in your essay is a great way to support your ideas with concrete evidence, which you need to support your thesis. To select a good quote , look for a passage that supports your argument and is open to analysis. Then, incorporate that quote into your essay, and make sure you properly cite it based on the style guide you’re using.

Sample Quotes

Incorporating a Short Quote

• For instance, let's say this is the quote you want to use: "The brown leaves symbolize the death of their relationship, while the green buds suggest new opportunities will soon unfold."
• If you just type that sentence into your essay and put quotes around it, your reader will be disoriented. Instead, you could incorporate it into a sentence like this: "The imagery in the story mirrors what's happening in Lia's love life, as 'The brown leaves symbolize the death of their relationship, while the green buds suggest new opportunities will soon unfold.'"

• "Critic Alex Li says, 'The frequent references to the color blue are used to suggest that the family is struggling to cope with the loss of their matriarch.'"
• "According to McKinney’s research, 'Adults who do yoga at least three times a week have lower blood pressure, better sleeping patterns, and fewer everyday frustrations.'"
• "Based on several recent studies, people are more likely to sit on the park benches when they're shaded by trees."

• You still need to use quotation marks even if you're only quoting a few words.
• If you're in doubt, it's best to be cautious and use quotes.

• For example, let’s say you used the quote, “According to McKinney’s research, ‘Adults who do yoga at least three times a week have lower blood pressure, better sleeping patterns, and fewer everyday frustrations.’” Your commentary might read, “This shows that yoga can have a positive impact on people’s health, so incorporating it into the workplace can help improve employee health outcomes. Since yoga makes employees healthier, they’ll likely have reduced insurance costs.”

• When you use a paraphrase, you still need to provide commentary that links the paraphrased material back to your thesis and ideas.

Using a Long Quote

• The reader will recognize that the material is a direct quote because it's set off from the rest of the text. That's why you don't need to use quotation marks. However, you will include your citation at the bottom.

• "In The Things They Carried , the items carried by soldiers in the Vietnam war are used to both characterize them and burden the readers with the weight they are carrying: The things they carried were largely determined by necessity. Among the necessities or near-necessities were P-38 can openers, pocket knives, heat tabs, wristwatches, dog tags, mosquito repellent, chewing gum, candy cigarettes, salt tablets, packets of Kool-Aid, lighters, matches, sewing kits, Military Payment Certificates, C rations, and two or three canteens of water." (O'Brien 2)

Variation: When you're citing two or more paragraphs, you must use block quotes, even if the passage you want to quote is less than four lines long. You should indent the first line of each paragraph an extra quarter inch. Then, use ellipses (…) at the end of one paragraph to transition to the next.

• Your block quote will use the same spacing as the rest of your paper, which will likely be double-spacing.

• For example, “According to Li, “Rosa is the first sister to pick a rose because she’s the only one who’s begun to move on after their mother’s death” might become “According to Li, “Rosa is the first sister to pick a rose because she’s … begun to move on after their mother’s death.”
• Don’t eliminate words to change the meaning of the original text. For instance, it’s not appropriate to use an ellipsis to change “plants did not grow faster when exposed to poetry” to “plants did … grow faster when exposed to poetry.”

• For example, let’s say you want to use the quote, “All of them experienced a more relaxed, calmer disposition after doing yoga for 6 months.” This doesn’t tell the reader who you’re talking about. You could use brackets to say, “All of [the teachers in the study] experienced a more relaxed, calmer disposition after doing yoga for 6 months.”
• However, if you know the study is talking about teachers, you couldn’t use brackets to say, “All of [society experiences] a more relaxed, calmer disposition after doing yoga for 6 months.”

• If you don't explain your quote well, then it's not helping your ideas. You can't expect the reader to connect the quote back to your thesis for you.

• For instance, you may prefer to use a long block quote to present a passage from a literary work that demonstrates the author's style. However, let's say you were using a journal article to provide a critic's perspective on an author's work. You may not need to directly quote an entire paragraph word-for-word to get their point across. Instead, use a paraphrase.

Tip: If you’re unsure about a quote, ask yourself, “Can I paraphrase this in more concise language and not lose any support for my argument?” If the answer is yes, a quote is not necessary.

Citing Your Quote

• An MLA citation will look like this: (Lopez 24)
• For sources with multiple authors, separate their names with the word “and:” (Anderson and Smith 55-56) or (Taylor, Gomez, and Austin 89)
• If you use the author’s name in your lead-in to the quote, you just need to provide the year in parentheses: According to Luz Lopez, “the green grass symbolizes a fresh start for Lia (24).”

• An APA citation for a direct quote looks like this: (Ronan, 2019, p. 10)
• If you’re citing multiple authors, separate their names with the word “and:” (Cruz, Hanks, and Simmons, 2019, p. 85)
• If you incorporated the author’s name into your lead-in, you can just give the year and page number: Based on Ronan’s (2019, p. 10) analysis, “coffee breaks improve productivity.”

• For instance, a Chicago Style citation will look like this: (Alexander 2019, 125)
• If you’re quoting a source with multiple authors, separate them with the word “and:” (Pattinson, Stewart, and Green 2019, 175)
• If you already incorporated the author’s name into your quote, then you can just provide the year and page number: According to Alexander, “the smell of roses increases feelings of happiness” (2019, 125).

• For MLA, you'd cite an article like this: Lopez, Luz. "A Fresh Blossom: Imagery in 'Her Darkest Sunshine.'" Journal of Stories , vol. 2, no. 5, 2019, p. 15-22. [17] X Trustworthy Source Purdue Online Writing Lab Trusted resource for writing and citation guidelines Go to source
• In APA, you'd cite an article like this: Lopez, Luz. (2019). A Fresh Blossom: Imagery in "Her Darkest Sunshine." Journal of Stories , 2(5), 15-22. [18] X Trustworthy Source Purdue Online Writing Lab Trusted resource for writing and citation guidelines Go to source
• For Chicago Style, your article citation would look like this: Lopez, Luz. "A Fresh Blossom: Imagery in 'Her Darkest Sunshine.'" Journal of Stories 2 no. 4 (2019): 15-22. [19] X Trustworthy Source Purdue Online Writing Lab Trusted resource for writing and citation guidelines Go to source

Selecting a Quote

Tip: Quotes are most effective when the original language of the person or text you’re quoting is worth repeating word-for-word.

• If you’re struggling to explain the quote or link it back to your argument, then it’s likely not a good idea to include it in your essay.

• Paraphrases and summaries work just like a direct quote, except that you don’t need to put quotation marks around them because you’re using your own words to restate ideas. However, you still need to cite the sources you used.

Community Q&A

• Always cite your quotes properly. If you don't, it is considered plagiarism. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://www.ursinus.edu/live/files/1160-integrating-quotespdf
• ↑ https://lsa.umich.edu/sweetland/undergraduates/writing-guides/how-do-i-incorporate-quotes-.html
• ↑ https://helpfulprofessor.com/quotes/
• ↑ https://advice.writing.utoronto.ca/using-sources/quotations/
• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_formatting_quotations.html
• ↑ https://guides.libraries.psu.edu/apaquickguide/intext
• ↑ https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide/citation-guide-2.html
• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_formatting_and_style_guide.html
• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/reference_list_articles_in_periodicals.html
• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/chicago_manual_17th_edition/cmos_formatting_and_style_guide/periodicals.html
• ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/quotations/

About This Article

Medical Disclaimer

The content of this article is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, examination, diagnosis, or treatment. You should always contact your doctor or other qualified healthcare professional before starting, changing, or stopping any kind of health treatment.

Read More...

To put a quote in an essay, incorporate it directly into a sentence if it's shorter than 4 typed lines. For example, you could write "According to researchers," and then insert the quote. If a quote is longer than 4 typed lines, set it off from the rest of the paragraph, and don't put quotes around it. After the quote, include an in-text citation so readers know where it's from. The right way to cite the quote will depend on whether you're using MLA, APA, or Chicago Style formatting. For more tips from our English co-author, like how to omit words from a quote, scroll down! Did this summary help you? Yes No

• Send fan mail to authors

Reader Success Stories

Did this article help you?

Bobby Hilltop

May 26, 2017

Sarah Okyere

Mar 29, 2019

May 19, 2019

Feb 6, 2017

Featured Articles

Trending Articles

Watch Articles

• Terms of Use
• Privacy Policy
• Do Not Sell or Share My Info
• Not Selling Info

Get all the best how-tos!

Sign up for wikiHow's weekly email newsletter

• Manage Account
• The Courier ePaper
• Evening Telegraph ePaper

There’s so much more to AI in schools than cheating in essays, says Dunblane teacher

Talk about schoolchildren using AI tools like ChatGPT and people think of the potential for cheating in homework.

But that’s not among the big issues we should be focussing on around artificial intelligence in education according to leading thinkers in the field.

Chris Ranson, of Dunblane High School, is among the more well-informed teachers on the emerging technology.

The Stirling secondary is seen as one of Scotland’s early adopters of AI and Chris is its AI integration lead.

He reckons we need to control the narrative on AI in schools and ensure it reaffirms the value of human thinking and human education.

He says: “Generative AI will be a hugely positive thing in our society if we get the right grasp of it.”

Most young people he has asked are already using generative AI, most commonly Snapchat’s MyA chatbot .

Yes, some pupils have passed off AI-generated output as their own for school assignments, he says.

But this could be a short term problem, he reckons, and countered by a change in assessment methods which is already in the post for Scotland.

The fact young people are already being exposed to such “radically powerful technology” makes instruction on the topic necessary, says Chris.

“It would be a mistake to assume uncritically encouraging [AI’s] use in schools is a good thing, but also a mistake to pretend a technological revolution is not currently underway.”

What is AI?

AI is not new, the term first coined in the 1950s.

Alexa uses AI. AI is the algorithms which determine your social media feed. AI organises photos on your mobile phone into albums like ‘snow days’ or ‘at the beach’.

AI is used day-to-day in health care, finance, retail, entertainment.

Generative AI – they type you can ask to write an essay, answer a question, create a picture – began to really take off around 18 months ago.

This includes chatbot ChatGPT, digital assistant Microsoft Copilot and image generators DALL-E and MidJourney.

All of these and many more are already in common use, and the technology is evolving rapidly.

I used Copilot on my laptop to aid research for this article – double-checking facts, of course – and DALL-E3 to produce the images at the top and above.

Chris says: “Generative AI will be a defining factor in the future of everyone in Scotland.

“The exponential effects of this technology are beginning to be felt across many industries and we will all be the benefactors of this, as well as the likely inheritors of unintended consequences.”

So both teachers and pupils need to be aware of both the benefits and the risks.

What could AI be used for in schools?

Lesson planning, personalised feedback, producing visual aids, graphs or question banks are all jobs which could be done by AI, Chris says.

AI can make it easier for us to use computers so that we speak to them rather than clicking through options. The computer learns us rather than us having to learn how to use it.

Pupils can use it for research and project-based learning.

What are the drawbacks of AI?

Herein lies one of the problems of generative AI. Accuracy.

“Unless one already knows about a subject, they cannot be sure if generative AI is generating false information,” says Chris.

Tools can produce the wrong answer to numerical problems, for example, yet confidently explain how they reached it.

That is among the key messages Chris conveys when he speaks to teachers and pupils about AI.

He says: “Generative AI cannot be trusted. By its nature its job is to generate content and often it will do this without much regard to truth or validity.”

Also he warns people that every conversation with a chatbot is public, saved in a database somewhere.

A cognitive crutch?

Chatbots will be influenced by bias and groupthink, shaped over time by large populations of people using the same tools.

In terms of security, safety features of generative AI can be bypassed. Production of sexual and violent material is another concern, says Chris.

But his biggest worry is that freely introducing generative AI into the classroom may create a “cognitive crutch for pupils who are in the process of learning how to learn”.

He says: “This concern may prove to be as irrational as saying the internet would damage the education of young people.

“But until we have some evidence one way or the other, I am cautious about introducing a tool which offloads much of the critical thinking a young person develops in school; critical thinking which they then can use in all walks of life.”

How has AI been used so far in Dunblane High School?

For this reason and others, Chris has shied away from promoting its use in Dunblane High School.

Chris says: “Staff and pupils both have had a similar mix of curiosity and caution regarding the use of AI.

“Some teachers have used it for the production of learning materials, for example, generating question banks or images, others have used it to produce content for the pupils to critically analyse.”

While he reckons its too early to assume generative AI will benefit classroom learning, Chris reckons teachers need to be coached in its possibilities.

And even the most technophobic among them may be pleasantly surprised.

He says: “Teachers who have struggled to use current software systems will not want to get into the nitty gritty of generative offerings.

“However, if generative AI possibilities are allowed air to breathe then it should appear so attractive to such teachers that they actively want to use it.

“For example, if you could say to a teacher you no longer have to click through all the various options and menus required to complete online activities, be it content creation or marking, then even the more technologically weary would be interested potentially.”

AI at Abertay University for the future workforce

Dr Salma ElSayed uses AI in her classes in at Abertay University School of Design and Informatics.

She reckons there’s an untapped potential to exploit for teachers.

“We could use AI in the classroom for demonstrative purposes, for example explaining complex problems in an easy way. We could ask AI to do visualisations, make visual aids to help explain things.

“We can rely on AI to do tasks relatively quickly, like summarising texts, plotting graphs, translating text.

“There are a lot of exploitations we haven’t even touched on yet.”

Salma says we remain at an “early stage of being fascinated by how this is going” but we need to tread cautiously.

“We always tell our students be careful because it’s not reliable, it doesn’t guarantee the factual information is correct.”

Salma teaches students how to use generative AI. And she believes that skill will be vital when they join the workforce.

“When they graduate most employers will expect them to know generative AI and how to use it, even if it’s not the discipline of the company.

“We teach our students it’s important we embrace it but we have to use it in an ethical way.”

Where is AI-used prohibited for schoolchildren?

Use of AI was temporarily banned in some Australian schools. Schools in some American states also banned it.

Here pupils are forbidden by the Scottish Qualifications Authority from using or referencing AI tools in coursework.

A spokesperson said: “SQA recognises that artificial intelligence technology and tools present great opportunities and substantial challenges for Scotland’s education community.

“That’s why we have provided clear guidance and leadership to protect the credibility of assessment and qualifications.

“We will continue to engage regularly and closely with teachers and learners and with education partners to ensure our guidance and policies keep pace with the rapid advances in AI capability and adoption.”

AI in a new Scottish education system

The potential for AI to disrupt the current qualification system was considered in the Hayward review of qualification and assessment reform .

The review report recommends reform of Scotland’s exams-based system. These include scrapping fourth year exams and different assessment methods for Highers and Advanced Highers.

It recommends the Scottish Government convene a cross sector commission on AI in education as a matter of urgency.

Teachers, it says, should be supported in making the best of tools such as ChatGPT, and coursework tasks made compatible with AI developments.

More from Schools

School lunch menus for Angus, Dundee, Fife, Perth and Kinross and Stirling - updated…

11 highlights from St Ninian's Primary's glowing inspection report

Kids sitting exams? Don't stress - Perth schoolgirl Kristi is here to help

Monifieth photographer Emilie puts 'heart and soul' into renovating one bed flat

How could new online safety rules fought for by mum of Dundee suicide teen…

What happened when my 12-year-old son took a driving lesson at a Fife track

Top shot pupil Molly aims for Olympic glory with training in Perthshire school shooting…

Adventures, textbooks and the occasional duvet day: The life of a Fife home educating…

11 of our favourite play parks in Dundee, Fife, Angus and Perth

Is Northmuir Primary Scotland's healthiest school - or could your school challenge the Kirriemuir…

Conversation.

Comments are currently disabled as they require cookies and it appears you've opted out of cookies on this site. To participate in the conversation, please adjust your cookie preferences in order to enable comments.

The Russians Destroyed Their Villages. Now They Rebuild.

The people of the Kherson region have slowly rebuilt their homes and livelihoods since a Ukrainian counteroffensive forced out Russian troops. Now they are bracing for another Russian attack.

Residents in the Kherson region of southern Ukraine gathered to collect donations of building supplies for their damaged homes. Credit...

Supported by

• Share full article

By Carlotta Gall and Oleksandr Chubko

Photographs by Mauricio Lima

Reporting from the Kherson region of Ukraine

• Published May 10, 2024 Updated May 11, 2024

A double line of concrete pyramids snakes its way across undulating farmland outside the city of Kherson. Anti-tank fortifications known as dragon’s teeth, the pyramids are a sign of the new defenses Ukraine is building in the south against an anticipated Russian offensive.

In a village nearby, residents were focused on a more immediate task: collecting donations of building supplies.

The people of the Kherson region have been slowly rebuilding their homes and livelihoods since a Ukrainian counteroffensive forced Russian troops out of the area west of the Dnipro River 18 months ago and ended a brutal occupation.

Many have fixed their roofs, windows and doors, yet as they start to plant crops and tend their vegetable gardens, they are bracing for another Russian attack.

“Anything is possible,” said Oksana, who paused from weeding the flower bed in front of her home. Like most people interviewed for this article, she gave only her first name for fear of Russian reprisal. “There is talk of a big attack in May to June. We are reading they will take back Kherson.”

Her two sons joined the army after the Russians were forced out, and were complaining they were short of weapons, she said. “It’s very hard,” she said of the situation at the front.

For those who lived through eight months of Russian occupation, the memories have stoked fears that the Russians would be harsher a second time.

Oksana recounted how her family had lived under the gun of Russian soldiers lodged across the street and how her husband nearly died when wounded in the neck from a shell blast.

“It was scary,” she said. Her face crumpled as she began to weep.

Down the street, a veteran soldier, Oleksandr Kuprych, 63, keeps a shotgun in his greenhouse and said he would use it if the Russians returned.

“I will send the women and children away,” he said. “And I will be here. I have my trench and my rifle.”

In his house, he also has a Russian soldier’s helmet damaged by a long slash from an ax.

Mr. Kuprych said he had killed the soldier with a hatchet and buried him and his rifle in the tree line above the village. The soldier was one of a pair who had shot at the villagers who tried to climb a hill to find a cellphone signal.

“I was so angry that I put all my strength into that ax blow,” he said.

When Ukrainian soldiers recaptured the village, he showed them where he had buried the soldier. They took away the body and rifle but let Mr. Kuprych keep the helmet. The episode was written up in a book on Kherson’s resistance under occupation.

The rural communities of Kherson are resilient but much degraded. Some villages that stood on the front line are so badly smashed that only a few families have been able to come back and fix up their homes. The electricity and gas are back up in most places, but water has to be trucked into some villages. Irrigation canals remain destroyed, leaving farms and businesses largely abandoned.

There are few jobs, and most families are living on handouts. International charities have provided cows to residents and cash for them to buy chickens and seeds.

Some of the largest villages such as Myrolyubivka are humming, swollen with families displaced from frontline communities. Blue tarpaulins are tacked over damaged roofs, and vegetable gardens are neatly tilled.

Yet these villages, less than 20 miles from the front line, remain targets of Russian rockets and bombs. Myrolyubivka recently completed a large underground basement for schoolchildren to gather in twice a week for classes and games. But before work on the basement was finished, Russian missiles struck the local hospital, demolishing a whole wing and several houses.

“Let them die, the bastards,” Tamara, 71, said of the Russian troops as she pushed her bicycle along the street. “I was tending my garden and shells were flying this way and that over my head, and it’s still boom, boom, all the time.”

In another village, the community leader, Lyubov, ran through a litany of destruction from the fighting in 2022. “The school is damaged, the kindergarten is damaged, the house of culture is damaged, and the hospital is destroyed,” she said. She asked that her surname and the name of the village not be published to avoid being targeted further by Russian rockets.

The United Nations and international charities have supplied building materials for residents to repair more than 100 houses in the village, but 50 were beyond repair, she said. “We are waiting for money for that,” she said.

Russian shelling is not the only source of hardship. The destruction of the Kakhovka dam last year, which led to widespread flooding of the Kherson region and the draining of the Kakhovka reservoir, has lowered the water table and left some villages with infected or dry wells.

There are hundreds of hectares filled with mines and unexploded ordnance. Fields lie untended, and white ribbons fluttering from the stalks of weeds warn of mines.

Officials say it will take years to remove the mines, but some farmers say they cannot afford to wait. Some have paid private contractors to clear their fields. Others have taken to sweeping their fields with a metal detector.

“We find anti-tank mines and anti-personnel mines,” a farmer and mechanic, Oleh, 35, said as he bent underneath the engine of his tractor. “It’s the same thing every day. Demining and then sowing.”

His village lay on the front line and is one of the most badly damaged. Only a few families live there, and only 10 children, because there is no school, his wife, Maryna, 33, said.

Beneath the physical destruction lie deep wounds from the occupation.

A ruined two-story house on the edge of the village of Pravdyne served as a Russian position during the occupation. Russian cigarette packets and a ration pack littered the floor amid broken glass and rubble. Burned-out armored vehicles lay beyond.

At the beginning of the invasion, Russian troops killed six guards from a farming company and a 15-year-old girl who was with them, blowing up the house they were staying in. Investigators exhumed their bodies after the occupation and found two of them had been shot in the head, according to details released by the Kherson Regional Police. The filing cited a man serving in the Russian Marines for his role in the killings.

Separately, investigators also exhumed two other bodies in the village and announced the results of pretrial investigations into their deaths. One was a man, age 50, who was shot when riding a moped near a column of Russian military equipment; the other was a woman, 56, who sparred with Russian troops who parked their vehicle in her yard, statements from the Kherson regional prosecutor’s office said .

They “died at the hands of the occupiers,” investigators wrote.

The Russian defense ministry has regularly denied its soldiers commit atrocities.

Many families have men at the front or have lost relatives to the war. “Who will answer for it?” said Naira, a psychologist whose niece’s husband was killed in the fighting.

While a proportion of the urban population in southern and eastern Ukraine has Russian roots, the rural population is overwhelmingly Ukrainian. Few villagers worked for the Russian administration during the occupation. Some departed with the Russian troops. Others were charged with collaboration and imprisoned by the Ukrainian authorities, said a farmer, Viktor Klets, 71.

But divisions were showing in the remaining community in petty jealousies and complaints over the amounts of compensation people were allotted, he said.

There were still Russian sympathizers in the village, but they were keeping quiet for now, Mr. Klets said. There was solidarity among those who survived the occupation together, but others who left and then returned have accused them of robbing their houses, he said.

“The war changed people,” said Lena, 45, a neighbor, standing beside him. “It made people more mean.”

As for the future, villagers often quote the same proverb. “Life is like a long field,” Mr. Klets said. “Anything could happen along the way.”

Yurii Shyvala contributed reporting from the Kherson region.

Carlotta Gall is a senior correspondent, covering the war in Ukraine. More about Carlotta Gall

Our Coverage of the War in Ukraine

News and Analysis

Ukraine asked the Biden administration to provide more intelligence  on the position of Russian forces and military targets inside Russia, according to U.S. and Ukrainian officials.

President Volodymyr Zelensky signed into law a bill allowing some Ukrainian convicts to serve  in the country’s military in exchange for the possibility of parole at the end of their service, a move that highlights Kyiv’s desperate attempts to replenish its forces.

NATO allies are inching closer to sending troops into Ukraine to train Ukrainian forces . The move would be another blurring of a previous red line and could draw the United States and Europe more directly into the war.

World’s Nuclear Inspector: Rafael Grossi took over the International Atomic Energy Agency five years ago at what now seems like a far less fraught moment. With atomic fears everywhere, the inspector is edging toward mediator .

Frozen Russian Assets: As much as $300 billion in frozen Russian assets is piling up profits and interest income by the day. Now, Ukraine’s allies are considering how to use those gains to aid Kyiv .

Rebuilding Ukrainian Villages: The people of the Kherson region have slowly rebuilt their livelihoods since Ukraine’s military forced out Russian troops. Now they are bracing for another Russian attack .

How We Verify Our Reporting

Our team of visual journalists analyzes satellite images, photographs , videos and radio transmissions  to independently confirm troop movements and other details.

We monitor and authenticate reports on social media, corroborating these with eyewitness accounts and interviews. Read more about our reporting efforts .

Advertisement