How to use quotation marks – rules with periods, commas, and more

Rules for Using Quotation Marks

Quotation marks are punctuation marks used to signify a spoken or quoted phrase. More precisely, quotation marks are used to designate a direct quote—something that’s been said word for word.

• Example: He said, “I’m going to be a couple minutes late to class today.”

When a sentence summarizes another’s speech, quote, or spoken dialect, also known as an indirect quote, quotation marks aren’t necessary.

• Example: He said that he was going to be a couple minutes late to class today.

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Quotation marks with periods, commas, and other punctuation

How do quotations work with commas and other punctuation? A comma is placed within the quotation marks to introduce a direct quote. If the description of the quote’s speaker is placed after the quotation, a comma is always placed within the quotation marks.

• Example: “I’m going to be a couple minutes late to class today,” he said.

In American English grammar, commas and periods should be placed within the quotation marks as long as they don’t change the meaning of the quotation. This means that if a comma or period is not part of your quoted material, it should be placed outside of the quotation marks.

• Example: He asked, “Is it okay if I’m a couple of minutes late to class today?”
• Example: Does he always say, “I’m going to be late to class today”?

How capitalization works with quotes

It can sometimes be hard to remember when to capitalize words within quotation marks. To keep it straight, follow these two simple rules:

1. Always capitalize the first letter of a direct quote

The first letter in a quote should always be capitalized when quoting a full, complete sentence.

• Example: He said, “I’m running behind and I’m going to be late to class.”

2. Do not capitalize fragments

If a quote only references a fragment of a quote, a phrase, or part of a sentence, the first word of the quote does not need to be capitalized. This includes cases when a quote is interrupted by a description.

• Example: “I’m running behind,” he said, “and I’m going to be late to class.”
• Example: He’s always saying he’s “running behind” and so will be late.

Other uses for quotation marks

Quotation marks aren’t only used to capture spoken words. You might also run into, or want to employ, these other uses of quotation marks:

Titles

While titles of longer works (e.g., full-length books, music albums, TV shows, and films) and publications (e.g., newspapers, magazines, and journals) are often written in italics, shorter pieces found within these longer works—like songs, poems, articles, and chapters—are typically written in quotation marks.

• Example: Calvin thought that Purple Rain was Prince’s best album. However, “1999” was his favorite song.

Scare quotes

Also known as air quotes, sneer quotes, or shudder quotes, scare quotes are put around a word or phrase to note atypical usage or disapproval. Scare quotes are often used with a negative or sarcastic tone that distances the user from the quoted content to draw attention to something. In other words, scare quotes are the deliberate use of quotation marks when they are not grammatically necessary.

• Example: Calvin claims that only “real” Prince fans understand the brilliance of his earlier, less acclaimed work.

Single quotes

Single quotation marks are used to identify quotes inside of quotes.

• Example: “‘1999’ is my favorite song,” Calvin said.

So many uses and rules of quotation marks might feel like a lot to keep in your head while you’re writing. However, with practice, you can master this commonly confused aspect of grammar over time. Get up to speed on your quotation mark usage and other grammar rules by using a virtual AI writing assistant like Copilot in Microsoft 365 to catch your grammatical mistakes.