Quotation Mark Rules | How To Use Quotation Marks | English Writing Essentials | ESL Grammar Lesson
Quotation Mark Rules | How To Use Quotation Marks | English Writing Essentials | ESL Grammar Lesson
Learn about how to use quotation marks in American English to become a better English writer and transcriber or transcriptionist. I’ll teach you the grammar rules on when and how we use double and single quotation marks, when to capitalize and use commas in quotation marks, and how to place quotes within sentences.
Make sure to check out the other videos in my English Writing Essentials series at @Sparkle English to improve your punctuation and grammar skills.
More Videos in My English Writing Essentials Series:
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► Apostrophe Rules - • Apostrophe Rules | How to Use Apostro…
► Capitalization Rules - • Capitalization Rules - When to Use Up…
► Colon Rules - • Colons: When to Use a Colon in a Sent…
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Content
1.53 -> Jennifer: Hello everybody!
Welcome back to my channel
3.72 -> Sparkle English where I teach
you all about how to speak in
7.11 -> English, how to write in
English, and how to improve your
10.5 -> level of English. A lot of my
subscribers have found me
13.92 -> because they have watched my
tutorials on my YouTube channel,
16.98 -> Jennifer Marie VO where I teach
you how to make money online and
20.73 -> particularly how to make money
as a transcriptionist. Well in
24.36 -> order to be a good
transcriptionist, you need to
26.55 -> have excellent punctuation
skills. And being able to
29.94 -> properly use quotation marks is
essential in becoming a good
33.72 -> transcriptionist or a good
writer. So today, I'm going to
37.23 -> go over quotation marks rules.
And these are English writing
41.46 -> essentials. things you need to
know if you want to be an
45.03 -> excellent writer in English.
Make sure to subscribe to my
48.51 -> channel if you haven't already.
I also recommend you grab a pen
52.26 -> or a piece of paper and take
some notes as we go along. We
55.41 -> will also have a little practice
session so make sure to pause
58.29 -> the video so you can answer the
questions on your pen and paper
61.35 -> and follow along with us. So
let's get started. This is our
67.05 -> introduction to quotation marks.
In this lesson, we are going to
70.5 -> discuss the American way of
using quotation marks in written
73.89 -> English. Now if you want to
learn how to use quotation marks
77.58 -> because you want to become a
transcriptionist, most of the
80.34 -> transcription platforms use the
American way unless you are
84.15 -> working with an English or
British transcription company.
88.71 -> One of the most important ways
we use quotations is to quote
92.4 -> someone's words. And obviously
these right here are quotation
96.45 -> marks, double quotation marks.
To quote something means to
100.86 -> repeat exactly what someone
said. So let's get started with
105.36 -> the first rule. Quotation marks
rule one, use double quotation
111 -> marks to indicate a direct word
for word quotation. Example: "I
116.73 -> love horror movies," she said.
"Do you want to go for dinner
120.51 -> tomorrow night?" Mary asked. "I
have a business meeting next
124.8 -> Friday," John answered. So I
love horror movies is exactly
129.96 -> what this person said. So we use
quotation marks to indicate a
134.37 -> direct word for word quotation.
And I want you to pay attention
139.29 -> where we are using them. We're
using them here at the beginning
142.56 -> and at the end, after the comma,
but we will discuss that in a
146.34 -> little bit. Okay, so where do
you need to place quotation
150.63 -> marks in these sentences? I'm
going to Venice next month, Sara
155.07 -> said, Does Carly work in your
department? Tina asked. So I
160.38 -> want you to look at these
sentences and determine what do
164.04 -> you think the direct sentence or
the direct speech was that we
168.18 -> are quoting? In this first
example? I'm going to Venice
172.65 -> next month. So we're going to
put quotations at the beginning.
178.08 -> And after the comma going to
Venice next month, Sarah said,
184.47 -> Does Carly work in your
department? Tina asked again at
189.69 -> the beginning of the quotation,
and after the question mark.
195.36 -> Okay, so Rule number two. And
this is Rule 2A: Always ca
199.32 -> italize the first word in a co
plete quotation. Examples. Ro
204.06 -> screamed, Don't lie to me. Th
judge said you are guilty as ch
209.31 -> rged. I want you to pay at
ention. The D is capitalized in
214.5 -> don't and the Y is ca
italized in the phrase you ar
218.55 -> guilty as charged. And this is
because we always have to ca
222.06 -> italize the first word in a co
plete quotation. So this is a fu
227.16 -> l sentence a full quotation. Do
't lie to me. You are guilty as
231.06 -> charged. It's not part of a qu
tation. It is a complete qu
235.47 -> tation. So we have to begin wi
h a capital letter. Rule 2b: I
240.3 -> a direct quotation is inte
rupted mid sentence, do not capi
245.1 -> alize the second part of the
uotation. Unless of course, the
249.27 -> econd part of the quotation begi
s with a word that you alwa
252 -> s have to capitalize like
254.31 -> Unknown: I
255.33 -> Jennifer: or the name of a
person. For example, John.
260.28 -> Examples: I didn't see any
celebrities in Los Angeles, Mr.
264.66 -> Smith said, but I still had a
good time. This is a direct
269.79 -> quotation, but it's interrupted
mid sentence because in the
272.52 -> middle of the sentence, we're
saying Mr. Smith said. So,
276.63 -> because of this, we do not have
to capitalize the B because this
281.91 -> is the first part of the
quotation and this is the second
286.65 -> part of the quotation and
because of that, we do not have
289.23 -> to capitalize the B and but we
just keep it as a lowercase
293.43 -> letter. Okay, so let's do some
practice. Where do you need to
298.17 -> place quotation marks and caps
letters in these sentences? The
302.64 -> teacher asked, Who knows the
answer to this question. He
306.72 -> declared, we are canceling the
meeting. Why, she asked, are you
311.28 -> so rude? So I want you to look
at these and following the rules
315.39 -> we just learned? Where do you
put quotation marks and capital
318.78 -> letters? Someone the first
sentence, the teacher asked, Who
324.72 -> knows the answer to this
question, we're going to put the
327.42 -> quotation marks before the W.
And we have to capitalize the
331.68 -> double you've to make this big,
because this is a full, complete
336 -> quotation. And then we put
quotation marks at the end after
340.44 -> the question mark. In the next
sentence, he declared, we are
344.67 -> canceling the meeting. Again,
quotation marks before the W and
350.76 -> we capitalize the W because it's
the beginning of a full
353.88 -> quotation, and then quotation
marks after the period at the
357.84 -> end. And the last one is a bit
more difficult. Why, she asked
362.88 -> are you so rude? Again, th
beginning of this, let's look a
367.56 -> where is the full quotation? Th
full quotation is Why are you s
372.21 -> rude and this part is
interrupting it. So we have to
375.48 -> put quotations before the w, wh
? And then close it after t
380.79 -> e comma, she aske
385.2 -> Double quotation marks, are you
so rude? Do we have to
389.43 -> capitalize the a in are? No.
because this is the first part
394.56 -> of the quotation, and this is
the second part. So we do not
397.68 -> need to capitalize the A,
because this all goes together
400.95 -> as one quotation. Now for rule
three, use commas to introduce
407.28 -> or interrupt direct quotations.
So we've been doing this the
410.82 -> whole time. He yelled, comma,
get out of my way. Where comma
418.17 -> he asked, comma is the party
tomorrow. I need to borrow your
423.9 -> car. Comma, my sister said,
comma, so I can go to my
429.51 -> appointment. In the first
example, we are introducing a
435.15 -> direct quotation, so we have to
put the comma he yelled, comma,
438.72 -> get out of my way. And in the
second and third example, we're
443.25 -> using the commas because we are
interrupting direct quotations
446.85 -> where comma he asked comma is
the party tomorrow. Okay, so
453.15 -> let's do a practice. Where do
you need to place commas and
456.51 -> quotation marks in these
sentences? The woman said, I'm
460.98 -> tired. The rabbit the main
complaint is always eating my
465.42 -> plants. So in the first one, the
woman said, put a comma, quote,
479.263 -> and commas always go inside q
otation marks. Again, this is
483.583 -> or American English. In British
nglish, it's outside the quot
487.633 -> tion marks. But if you are want
ng to learn these rules because
491.053 -> ou're a transcri
tionist, you will probably
493.063 -> be following American rules fr
m almost every single transcri
497.383 -> tion company. Examples The mana
er said, everyone is getting
502.153 -> Christmas bonus. Again, y
u can notice here, the period i
506.773 -> inside the quotation mark the
cream again, comma whisper,
513.583 -> the shop assistant is on the t
ird shelf. So the commas a
517.723 -> e inside the quotation marks an
the periods as well. Okay, fo
522.883 -> rule number five, place a
uestion mark or exclamat
526.303 -> on mark within closing quotatio
marks if the punctuat
530.233 -> on applies to the quotatio
itself. Place the punctuat
534.283 -> on outside the closing quotatio
marks if the punctuat
538.123 -> on applies to the whole sentence
Now this might seem a little b
541.933 -> t confusing. What we're trying t
say is when do you know if
545.413 -> ou have to put the quotatio
mark after the question
548.593 -> mark, or before the question
mark? And this depends on the c
552.403 -> ntext and depends on the quot
tion itself. For example,
556.543 -> Jane asked, where's the library?
Where is the library? We have
562.783 -> o put a question mark because
his quotation is a question
567.493 -> and we don't need to put a pe
iod after it. We just finish i
571.093 -> with the quotation mark. We
re not going To put the question
574.573 -> mark after the quotatio
, because this complete phrase i
580.213 -> not a question, the only que
tion is the inside the quotatio
585.313 -> , where is the library? So for t
is one, we have to put it insid
589.243 -> the quotation mark. And the
ext example, jack said, I hate y
594.103 -> u. Here, we put the exclamat
on mark inside the quotatio
599.323 -> because the exclamat
on mark applies to the quotatio
603.313 -> itself. Okay. Now for the last
one, do you agree with the phra
608.683 -> e Time is money? Time is money
is not a question. Time is money
613.543 -> It's not a question. So the q
estion mark does not apply to
617.053 -> this quote, the question
mark is on the outside, because
620.833 -> he full phrase is a question
Do you agree with the phrase T
624.493 -> me is money? Question mark? Th
s question mark relates to the e
629.173 -> tire sentence that doesn't
elate to the quotation. So we ha
633.013 -> e to put it outside of the quot
tion. Okay. Let's do some pra
638.353 -> tice, because this one is a lit
le more difficult. So where do
641.443 -> you need to place quotatio
marks in these sentence
644.233 -> ? Joe? question. Are you hung
y right now? Did you hear Cam
650.053 -> ron say to his parents, you're t
e worst parents ever.
655.333 -> So I want you to look at these
both right now, and try to
658.663 -> figure out which of these has a
quotation That is a question.
664.393 -> The first one Joe questioned?
Are you hungry right now? This
668.953 -> is a complete question. What Joe
says, is a question. So we have
674.353 -> to put the quotation marks
around. Are you hungry right
678.583 -> now? And after the question
mark, because we are quoting a
683.593 -> question. And the second one,
did you hear Cameron say to his
688.303 -> parents, you're the worst
parents ever? You're the worst
692.083 -> parents ever is not a question.
It's a statement. So this
697.633 -> question mark applies to the
entire sentence. So we have to
701.653 -> put the quotation marks before
you're, you're the worst parents
705.793 -> ever. Did you hear Cameron say
to his parents, you're the worst
709.243 -> parents ever? Because this
question mark is about the
712.783 -> entire phrase. It doesn't relate
to the quotation itself. It
718.363 -> relates to the entire sentence,
the entire phrase. Okay, and our
723.943 -> last rule that we're going to
discuss, is use single question
728.113 -> marks for quotations within
quotations. I spoke to George
733.813 -> yesterday and he said, Did you
talk to Jane, she told me, I am
738.103 -> quitting my job. So you can see
here, the quotation we are
743.533 -> referring to is this, did you
talk to Jane, she told me I am
747.613 -> quitting my job. This is what
George said. But George is also
753.073 -> quoting someone within his
quote. So to separate this, we
757.693 -> have to use single quotation
marks. So we have double, which
761.563 -> is what we normally will use.
And then if you're quoting
765.343 -> someone within that, you'd have
to use a single. So you can see
770.113 -> here, did you talk to Jane, she
told me, I am quitting my job.
777.823 -> So you can see here we have a
single quotation at the
780.193 -> beginning and a single at the
end, followed by two doubles.
785.383 -> Now, this is not very typical,
you will not see this very
788.353 -> often. And if you are doing some
sort of transcription job, it's
791.713 -> very unlikely you're going to
see something like this, but
794.803 -> it's just good to be aware of
what you would do if you saw
798.553 -> something like this. Okay, so
that completes my lesson on how
804.703 -> to use quotation marks in
American English. Make sure to
808.813 -> subscribe to my channel. For
more ESL videos like this one, I
811.963 -> will be releasing more English
writing essentials videos on how
815.173 -> to use hyphens and dashes and
periods and question marks and
818.743 -> all sorts of other things that
you need to know to improve your
821.863 -> level of English and to improve
your English writing skills. And
825.493 -> if you have any questions, you
can share them in the comments
827.923 -> as well. Thank you once again
for watching, and I will see you
830.803 -> in my next video.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_yYYoqkZl8