Using quotation marks, capital letters, and italics

Quotation marks

Quotations need to be introduced or identified with a signal phrase which identifies who is speaking in the quotation. The signal phrase can come before or after the quotation itself.

The coach said, “We are improving a little every day.”

“We are improving a little every day,” said the coach.

Notice the use of a comma in each example to set the signal phrase off from the quote.

 

Quotation marks

Quotations always begin with capital letters unless they are broken into two parts by a signal phrase. Then, the first word in the second half will only be capitalized if it begins a new sentence.

“We need to write more songs,” said the musician. “Otherwise, we’ll have to play too many covers.”

“I can’t help wondering,” said my mother, “what happened to the little boy I once knew.

Note: Break quotes into two parts when they are long or unwieldy or to emphasize the second part.

Quotation marks

At the end of a quotation, the comma or period is always placed inside the second set of quotation marks. The only exception is when a question mark or exclamation point applies to the whole sentence and is not just part of the quoted material:

The woman asked, “How much longer will it take to get there?” (Inside quote)

Are you familiar with Edgar Allan Poe’s poem, “The Raven”? (Outside quote)

Quotation marks

Quotation marks are used to identify titles of short written works, such as poems, essays, articles, songs, short stories, Web pages and TV episodes.

Poe’s poem, “The Raven”

The Beatles’ song “Eleanor Rigby”

A daily newspaper article “New Hampshire circus tent collapse kills two” 

ItalicsItalics are used to identify long works, such as books, newspapers, magazines, plays, albums, Web sites, movies, and TV series.

The Boston Globe is a newspaper that is published daily.

Huffington Post is a website the compiles articles from around the country.

Go Set a Watchman is Harper Lee’s new book.

Mrs. Doubtfire is a classic comedy starring Robin Williams.

Capital Leters

In deciding whether to capitalize a noun, determine if the word is referring to a specific person, place, or thing or is just a general term.

Aunt Judy is my hero. My aunt is my hero.

Dr. Roberts lives here. My doctor lives there.

 I’m from the Midwest. I live west of the Ohio River.

He teaches AP Literature He teaches an advanced literature class