Blog>
When to Use Quotation Marks: Your Full Guide with Examples
When to Use Quotation Marks: Your Full Guide with Examples
StudyAgent's experts break down when to use quotation marks, when you shouldn't add them, and how to avoid common punctuation mistakes.
Oct 3, 2025
Grammar Rules
11 min read
- Quotation marks are punctuation marks that enclose phrases or words in a text.
- Add quotation marks for direct quotations, dialogues, certain titles, ironic comments, and nicknames.
- Don't use quotation marks for emphasis, indirect and block quotes, or common words.
You might be a pro at making air quotes, but using the right quotations marks in writing is a completely different game. Although primarily used to indicate someone else's direct speech, these punctuation marks can also indicate sarcasm, enclose titles of short stories, and more.
Here's how to use quotation marks correctly, along with examples.
Not sure whether you've employed quotation marks correctly in your draft? StudyAgent, our AI assistant for writing and studying online, can help you weed out all punctuation mistakes in a matter of seconds.
Quotation Marks: Definition, Purpose, Types
Quotation marks (also known as quote marks, inverted commas, and speech marks) are a type of punctuation mark. You'll find them placed on either side of a word, phrase, sentence, or multiple sentences.
They're usually employed to indicate when you relay the person's exact words in the text:
According to Smith, passing even one tipping point will lead to "irreversible changes in the climate system."
However, quotation marks can also indicate sarcasm (e.g., "fast" delivery), enclose dialogue, underscore unusual word usage, and clarify linguistic discussions.
In American English, you'll typically come across double quotation marks. Single quotation marks are used only in quotes within quotes.
9 Reasons to Use Quotation Marks
Don't know when to use quotation marks? Here are nine scenarios, along with applicable quotation marks rules and examples to illustrate them.
Quoting a Source Directly
Direct quotes are the primary use case for quotation marks. These quotes relay the person's exact words from the quoted material. (Indirect quotes, in turn, paraphrase the direct speech.)
You can quote complete sentences or specific phrases and words. Here are a couple of quotation marks examples to illustrate the difference:
- As Stern put it, "Glacial ice is the largest source of fresh water on the planet."
- Stern calls glacial ice "the largest source of fresh water on the planet."
Indirect quotes don't require you to use quotation marks. For example: Stern indicated that no other freshwater source can rival glacial ice.
Writing Dialogue or Transcribing Speech
If you're writing fiction, your characters probably engage in dialogue or just say something out loud at some point. In that case, you'll need to enclose their speech in quotation marks:
- "Are you ready to head out?" she asked impatiently.
- "Not yet!" her friend shouted from the bathroom.
In non-fiction, quotation marks typically come in handy when you transcribe someone's speech. Here's how to use quotes in this case:
- Marianna continued, "Generative AI can be a great productivity boost for any white-collar employee out there."
Naming Creative Works
You might need to use quotation marks when you mention titles in your text. That said, not all types of works require using quotation marks. The ones that do include:
- Short stories and essays: Ray Bradbury's "The Third Expedition", Edgar Allan Poe's "The Gold Bug"
- Chapters in books: In the first chapter of Psychology Hacks, "The Art of Coping", the author...
- Articles in journals and magazines: "The Impact of Privacy Regulations on Business Conduct", Journal of Computer Science, March 2024
When in doubt, check your citation style guide (APA, MLA, Harvard, etc.) for specific formatting and punctuation rules for a given type of work.
Being Ironic or Sarcastic
If you want to subvert the initial meaning of a word, you'll need scare quotes. Think of them as ironic air quotes translated into writing: they're essentially a stand-in for the qualifier "so-called" before the word in the quotes.
For example:
- I didn't want to hear any more of his "wisdom."
- The fridge was full of "fresh" produce.
You'll notice that once you see the words in quotes ("wisdom", "fresh"), your brain automatically thinks of those words' opposite meanings ("stupidity", "spoiled").
You can also use scare quotes to enclose non-standard or made-up words:
- She went on to berate legislators for passing their "gummint" regulations for ten minutes straight.
Signalling Non-Standard Word Use
In some cases, you may deviate from the widely accepted meaning of the word. Or, you might use it in a descriptive yet unusual way. In that case, quotation marks can help you highlight that you're aware of how unconventional your word choice is.
For example:
- Tree roots seem to "know" where to grow to extract more nutrients from the soil.
Discussing Words as Words
Sometimes, you write a word down to discuss its spelling, pronunciation, definition, or origin. In that case, you're referring to the word as the word itself instead of what it represents. (This is known as the use-mention distinction.)
In this case, using quotes in a sentence will help you emphasize that you're referring to the word itself:
- The first known use of "cat" predates the 12th century.
- The "p" in "psychology" is silent.
Mentioning Nicknames
Whether you're writing about Earvin "Magic" Johnson or enhancing your fictional character's backstory with a nickname, you'll need quotation marks to separate it from the rest of the text. That helps readers distinguish the nickname from the person's or character's actual name.
For example:
- His best pal started calling him "Grouch" after the incident.
- No one could rival Ozzy "Prince of Darkness" Osbourne in heavy metal.
Indicating Height
In American English, you'll probably be using feet and inches to describe someone's height. In that case, use a single quotation mark for the feet and a double one for inches. Don't add any spaces in between.
For example:
- At 6'2", he was towering over everyone else in the room.
Quoting Within a Quote
The use of quotation marks within quotes is somewhat tricky. To avoid confusing readers into thinking the quote is over before it is, you'll need to employ a combination of single and double quotation marks.
If you're writing in American English, add the double quotation marks for the overall quotation first. Then, separate the quote within the quote with single quotation marks.
For example:
- The student continued, "Furthermore, Hawking cites 'catastrophic vacuum decay' as a potential risk of experimenting with the Higgs boson."
What About Single Quotation Marks?
Quotation marks come in two flavors. Double quotation marks, which can be curly (“...”) or straight ("..."), resemble double apostrophes. The single quotation marks symbol, in turn, resembles a single apostrophe (‘...’ or '...').
If you're writing in American English, you'll need single quotation marks mainly to replace the double ones within quotes:
- She asked me, "Have you read 'The Sandman' by E. T. A. Hoffmann?"
- The instructor went on, "Now, what does the author mean by 'reflecting the unconventional in the mundane'?"
In British English, the rules are reversed. Single quotes are the go-to option whenever you need to use quotation marks. Double quotation marks are used mainly for quotes within quotes.
How to Use Quotation Marks: 6 Rules to Live By
Even if you know when quotation marks are needed, there are plenty of common punctuation mistakes you can make. These six quotation mark rules will help you avoid them.
Double-Check the Closing Quotation Mark
For every opening quotation mark, there should be a closing one. So, pay attention to it when revising your draft. (Revising in general should be one of your go-to writing strategies.)
There is one notable exception to this rule. If your quote spans multiple paragraphs, don't add the closing quotation mark to all paragraphs except the last one.
- Incorrect: "There would never be 'another one for me," she lamented.
- Correct: "There would never be 'another one' for me," she lamented.
Keep (Most) Punctuation Marks Inside the Quote
The rules for quotation punctuation depend on whether you're writing in American or British English. In American English, the general rule is to add punctuation marks before the closing quotes. British English, however, requires placing most punctuation outside the quotation marks, unless they are part of the quoted material.
Below, we'll focus on punctuation rules for American English.
First, if you want to add a reporting clause, use a comma before it if it follows the quote or after it if it precedes the reported speech. For example:
- Incorrect: "Tell me where you've been." his brother demanded.
- Correct: "Tell me where you've been," his brother demanded.
If your reporting clause splits the quote into two parts, use commas as well.
- Incorrect: "Stop fidgeting" her mother demanded. "and keep your head high."
- Correct: "Stop fidgeting," her mother demanded, "and keep your head high."
However, if you're using quotation marks for a phrase or a single word, you don't need any commas at all.
- Incorrect: The professor said my paper was too, "funky," for the assignment.
- Correct: The professor said my paper was too "funky" for the assignment.
You may have already noticed that if your quoted material is right at the end of the sentence, the period belongs before the closing mark:
- Incorrect: No part of the manuscript was deemed "fit for publishing".
- Correct: No part of the manuscript was deemed "fit for publishing."
While periods and commas stay within the quotation marks, colons and semicolons are usually added outside of them (unless they're part of the quoted material).
- Incorrect: He must've told me a million times "Take deep breaths when you feel anxious."
- Correct: He must've told me a million times: "Take deep breaths when you feel anxious."
- Incorrect: Aaron warns that "depletion of silver and gold reserves can make modern technology impossible;" yet, recycling precious metals from used devices remains an untapped opportunity.
- Correct: Aaron warns that "depletion of silver and gold reserves can make modern technology impossible"; yet, recycling precious metals from used devices remains an untapped opportunity.
If your quoted material contains periods, colons, or semicolons, leave them as-is inside quotation marks. For example:
- He continued, "We simply need to prepare for new supply chain disruptions: geopolitical instability, natural disasters, labor issues; they're part of doing business."
Pay Attention to Question Marks & Exclamation Points
If the original quoted material contained a question mark or an exclamation point, those should remain within the quote, before the closing mark.
- Incorrect: The coach roared, "We can win, and we will win"!
- Correct: The coach roared, "We can win, and we will win!"
- Incorrect: Cooper turned to the audience and asked, "What would you do"?
- Correct: Cooper turned to the audience and asked, "What would you do?"
On the other hand, if the question mark or exclamation point is part of your written text, add it after the closing quotation mark.
- Incorrect: Should we buy into the hype and treat hydrogen fuel as "the future of transportation?"
- Correct: Should we buy into the hype and treat hydrogen fuel as "the future of transportation"?
Capitalize the First Word in Quoted Sentences
Even if your reporting clause precedes the quoted material, you should start the quoted sentence with a capital letter.
- Incorrect: Turner elaborates, "the success of the Manhattan Project was by no means inevitable."
- Correct: Turner elaborates, "The success of the Manhattan Project was by no means inevitable."
This rule applies only if you're quoting a whole sentence. If you're citing a phrase or a word, no capitalization is required.
- Incorrect: Arnold told the audience that the rest of the speech was "Rendered moot" by the events in the capital.
- Correct: Arnold told the audience that the rest of the speech was "rendered moot" by the events in the capital.
Place the Right Quotes When Citing Multiple Paragraphs
If you're using quotations that span more than one paragraph, every paragraph should start with an opening quotation mark, but only the last one should end with a closing one.
Incorrect:
The letter said:
"I can't believe it's been almost a year. I hope you've been doing well."
"I'll be in Atlanta in two months. I'd be thrilled to see you again. Will you make it?"
Correct:
The letter said:
"I can't believe it's been almost a year. I hope you've been doing well.
"I'll be in Atlanta in two months. I'd be thrilled to see you again. Will you make it?"
The rules differ for quoting poetry. If your quote spans more than three lines, forego quotation marks and instead add the quote on a new line, with a left indent and line breaks as in the original form.
Don't Modify the Quote Even If It Contains Errors
Sometimes, the quoted material contains grammatical or spelling mistakes. You may encounter those if you're citing blog articles, forum posts, or user-generated content or transcribing speech.
You should maintain the original quotation in a sentence, mistakes and all. However, distance yourself from that mistake by adding [sic]. For example:
- Incorrect: The user went on to report, "This chatbot often doesnt follow my instructions at all."
- Correct: The user went on to report, "This chatbot often doesnt [sic] follow my instructions at all."
6 Cases When You Don't Need Quotation Marks
Sometimes, you might think you need to use quotation marks, but that's not a hunch you should follow. Here are six common cases where you shouldn't add quotation marks.
Paraphrasing Someone's Words
If you're not using someone's exact words, you don't need to enclose them in quotation marks, plain and simple.
For example:
- Thurman also describes the cornerstones of ensuring predictive analytics accuracy during training.
Adding Indirect Quotations
Similarly to paraphrased material, you don't need to use quotation marks if your sentence contains an indirect quote. That stays true even if the quoted material is near-identical to the original speech or written text, save for the tense and/or pronouns.
For example:
- Dr. Martin Luther King started his famous speech by proclaiming that he had a dream.
- An anonymous source told the New York Times that the release of the Kennedy files was a diversion.
Highlighting Terms or Phrases
You might be tempted to use quotes for emphasis. However, if you do, you might mislead your readers into thinking you're using it ironically or referring to the word itself instead of its meaning. If you want to highlight a term or phrase, opt for italics instead of quotation mark usage.
For example:
- Cultural appropriation is commonly referred to as "an inappropriate or unacknowledged adoption of cultural elements by members of dominant culture or identity."
Mentioning Certain Titles
The titles of most academic works, including your own essay and book titles, are written without quotation marks. When you don't use quotation marks for titles, you may need to italicize them instead, although it depends on the citation guide.
For example:
- In Understanding Prejudice, Janice Lepore reaches a similar conclusion by tracing the historical origins of institutionalized racism in the United States.
Using Common Words with Clear Meaning
Unless you're trying to subtly change the meaning of the commonly used word or phrase, quotation marks will only confuse the reader. So, avoid using them if the meaning is already clear without them. Here's how the meaning may differ based on your use of quotes:
- She rewarded students with custom-made badges. = The badges were a form of recognition or award (positive sentiment).
- She "rewarded" students with custom-made badges. = The badges that served as some sort of punishment or comeuppance (negative sentiment).
Adding Block Quotes
If you need to use quotes that are quite long (the rule of thumb is over 40 words), you might be better off formatting that material as a block quote. In that case, using quotation marks would be akin to making one of those simple grammar mistakes: that is, easily avoidable and highly regrettable. To format the material as a block quote, add it as a new paragraph and set the left indent (usually 0.5").
In Closing
Quotation marks may be a relatively modern invention (they became standard only around the 19th century), but few papers can be written without a single one of them. So, make sure you use them when and where necessary.
Struggle to wrap your head around a myriad of punctuation rules? StudyAgent can help you catch any mistakes in your draft, all while streamlining the rest of your writing process.
Frequently asked questions
You should use quotation marks only if you're relaying someone's words verbatim. That can involve citing whole passages or single words and short phrases. If you're paraphrasing someone's words or turning a direct quote into an indirect one by changing its tense and pronouns, you don't need to use quotation marks.
In American English, double quotation marks (which look like double apostrophes) are used to indicate direct quotes, ironic comments, transcribed speech, dialogues, certain titles of works, and nicknames. Single quotes (which look like single apostrophes) are used only for quotes within quotes.
In British English, the rules are essentially reversed. Double quotation marks are used only for quotes within quotes, while single quotes are used for all other purposes.
Common mistakes involve misplacing punctuation and using quotation marks when they're not needed. Popular punctuation mistakes in American English include:
- Forgetting to add a closing quotation mark at the end of the quoted material;
- Missing commas after reporting clauses (if they precede the quote) or before the closing quote (if the reporting clause follows the quote);
- Unnecessarily capitalizing the first word when citing a word or phrase.
Sources:
- When do you use quotation marks (“ ”) or (“ ”) in English? | Learning English Grammar | Collins Education. (n.d.). Grammar.collinsdictionary.com. https://grammar.collinsdictionary.com/easy-learning/when-do-you-use-quotation-marks-or-in-english
- Gunner, J. (2010, April 9). When and How To Use Quotation Marks ( “ ” ). Yourdictionary.com. https://www.yourdictionary.com/articles/use-quotation-marks
- quotation marks | Common Errors in English Usage and More | Washington State University. (2016, May 19). Wsu.edu. https://brians.wsu.edu/2016/05/19/quotation-marks/
