Quotation Marks

Information

Use straight quotes (") and not smart quotes (“ ”). Do not use two apostrophes in place of a quotation mark. To avoid the use of smart quotes in Google Docs, go to Tools > Preferences and uncheck the "Use smart quotes" checkbox.

Punctuation

Commas and periods always go inside quotation marks. Other punctuation marks go outside unless they are part of the quoted text.

Examples

• He says, "Come here," and then, "Take my sword."

• Did you see your "friend"?

• He said, "Did you see your friend?"

Unusual usage

Use double quotes to set off in-universe terms that may otherwise be misread, words used in an unusual manner, or other expressions that should be taken at more than face value or vary from standard usage. Quotes around in-universe terms should be used sparingly and only when setting the term off makes the sentence clearer. In general, this occurs when the term is a pre-existing English word (e.g. chain in the example below) and the term's meaning has not yet been explained.

Examples

• Now, he must confront the world of the Abyss and its dwellers, the monstrous "Chains."

  • Compare with: The mystical Abyss is a terrifying realm home to monstrous creatures called Chains.

• He "started too late" to follow his true solo-skating dreams.

Nested quotations

Only use single quotes for quotations within quotations. To avoid confusion, use a space between the single quote and double quote when they appear together. In nested quotations, commas and periods go inside both quotation marks.

Examples

• The report told me, "When I asked him about the recent developments, he said 'no comment.' "

See also

pageItalics and Quotation MarkspageNames and Conventions