Quotation Within A Quotation

Recap:  

A direct quotation is a report of the exact words of an author or speaker.  Unlike an indirect quotation, a direct quotation is placed inside quotation marks.

You will remember from Lesson 1 on direct quotations that when the speaker uses a direct quotation, that it is proper to enclose that quote with quotation marks.  But what if the speaker’s spoken words contain quoted language within their quoted language?

Example:

The reporter explained, “When I talked to the Smiths last week, they said, ‘We refuse to cut that timber.'”

(a.)  Use single quotation marks for a quotation within a quotation:

You will notice in the above example single quotes are used for quotes inside quotes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(b.)  If a quotation appears within the single-quoted matter, revert to double quotation marks for the inner portion.

Example:

Mr. Simmons replied, “I was appalled when Jennifer said, ‘Put down that box marked “Fragile,” and give it to Heather before you break it.'”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Reflection:

1.  Did you notice the word “Fragile” started with a capital “F”?

2.  Can you cite why?

3.  In this example, can you turn it into a sentence with indirect quotes?

Example:  The reporter explained, “When I talked to the Smiths last week, they said, ‘We refuse to cut that timber.'”

4.   Do you have a solid understanding of how the punctuation would be altered in the example in Question 3 if the sentence was using indirect quotes versus direct quotes?

———–

ANSWERS:

1.  Hopefully yes.

2.  In the coming lesson entitled “For Special Emphasis,” it will explain why words and phrases introduced by such expressions as “so-called,” “marked,” signed,” and “entitled” are enclosed in quotation marks and the first quoted word capitalized.

3.  The reporter explained that when she talked to the Smiths last week, they refused to cut that timber.

4.  The sentence with indirect quotes would not contain quotation marks.