Young Writers Society

While most of us know what to do with double quotation marks, you know, dialogue, it's single quotation marks that confuse us.

Single quotation marks can be used with dialogue within a dialogue.

Ex: "And then she said 'so and so is such a fake!'"

Many people mistake one use of a double quotation mark, and use a single...kinda like this!

Ex: the words "effect" and "affect" are often confused.

Some people use single here...it should be double, as you see =D

I hope that cleared some things up for some people!
If you have any question's regarding this, PM and I'll answer asap!

NOTE: This may very depending on the area. If you're unsure whether it should be different for you, look it up.

Happy writings!!!
-JC

Remember, also, that in Europe it can be reversed, and you can use single quotations for doubles, and doubles for singles, which I how I prefer to do it.

So, to use your examples:

Ex: 'And then she said "so and so is such a fake!"'

Ex: the words 'effect' and 'affect' are often confused.

Yes, generally the double quote is the American way. The British way is a single quote, and I think that is used through most of Europe as well.

Lol, I was really confused about this one.

I was absolutely sure you use a double one. Absolutely. I always used it, and most of the books I read it had it like that also. Most. (Well, I didn't really pay much attention to that.)

Until.

School. English. The teacher. The said I wrote it all wrong.

She crossed out my doubles.

But that's in Poland

Due to me being from Great Britain I prefer to use single quoatation marks.

Steve

Oh, so that's how it works, is it? But I've read some American books, and they've used single quotation marks - is that a one-off thing? Personally, I think single looks better, but I sometimes end up using doubles...I kind of mix and match. Most unconventional.

-Twit

I'm from the UK and I use double. I'm aware, generally, that it's usually single over here, but single quotes seem so invisible in the text. I prefer the dialogue to be distinguishable from the rest of the text.

Besides, a publisher might stick to one way and you'd be forced to change if you get it published anyway.

ShadowTwit wrote:Oh, so that's how it works, is it? But I've read some American books, and they've used single quotation marks - is that a one-off thing? Personally, I think single looks better, but I sometimes end up using doubles...I kind of mix and match. Most unconventional.

-Twit

I think it also depends on the publisher, and in which country the book is published. Like when Scholastic Americanised the Harry Potter books slightly, to appeal more to an American audience.

I prefer single anyway. It seems to look neater, somehow.

I use double, even though my CW teacher insisted on single. I hate single. They look like something is missing o-O I only use them when I really, really have to.

Yeah, me too...but maybe because I learned the american way...who knows. But I've read some stuff where it was different, and it just seemed...empty! I didn't like it as much, but I guess it depends on what you're used to.

Merci pour ton temps
-JC

And did you know the French quote like this? <<Bonjour!>> lol. You could find many ways people use quotations, it's going to be different.

Wikipedia wrote:Single and double angle brackets...(<<, >>) are sometimes used instead of guillemets («, ») (used as quotation marks in many languages) when the proper glyphs are not available.

I've always liked looking at single quotes, the English literature I have looks so pretty... but being American, the double quote has stuck it's thorn in my side.

But I've read some American books, and they've used single quotation marks - is that a one-off thing?

I've had this happen, it's usual when the book is from an area that uses single quotes, and when published in America, the publisher doesn't change that. So, for example, you'll find it with classics and such. This is my guess. It gets confusing for me because now I'm starting get books that from the UK, so... I just read, however the quotes look