You Can Quote Me On That!

If you've ever had trouble with quotation marks, you're not alone! When I edited papers in a college English department, some of the most common errors that I ran across were with quotation marks.

Here is a short guide to help you out:

Double Quotations: Double quotation marks (" ") are used when you are quoting, verbatim, what someone said, as long as the quote is under five lines. Ex. George said, "That's enough for me."

Sinlge Quotations: Single quotation marks (' ') are used when you are quoting within a quote. Ex. George said, "When I asked Frank, he said, 'It doesn't matter,' but it matters to me."

Quotations that are five lines or longer: You will use no quotation marks. Indent the quotation one inch on both sides and make sure it is single-spaced.