I don’t recall ever being taught this.
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What is happening to our education system someone asked about evolution in a different ELI5
What is happening to our education system someone asked about evolution in a different ELI5
If I were to answer this, I might say, “American English uses double quotation marks except when one quote appears inside another, in which case single quotation marks or ‘inverted commas’ are used.”
I would then recall that Reddit is international and add, ‘British English requires the reverse; except when one quote is inside another, use single quotation marks. Both use the same standard for all uses of quotation marks, including “scare quotes”, which are used to indicate a level of skepticism about the term in quotation marks or convey that it is being used ironically.’
Having answered thusly, I would add, “Other variations of global English tend to adhere to one of these two standards (at least where quotation marks are concerned). Which one a country uses may be related to its geographical location or history of colonization.”
Then, I would say something about how quotation marks are not properly used for emphasis, which is more clearly conveyed using bold or italicized text to avoid confusion with the ironic use. (Avoid being “misunderstood”!)
If I were to answer this, I might say, “American English uses double quotation marks except when one quote appears inside another, in which case single quotation marks or ‘inverted commas’ are used.”
I would then recall that Reddit is international and add, ‘British English requires the reverse; except when one quote is inside another, use single quotation marks. Both use the same standard for all uses of quotation marks, including “scare quotes”, which are used to indicate a level of skepticism about the term in quotation marks or convey that it is being used ironically.’
Having answered thusly, I would add, “Other variations of global English tend to adhere to one of these two standards (at least where quotation marks are concerned). Which one a country uses may be related to its geographical location or history of colonization.”
Then, I would say something about how quotation marks are not properly used for emphasis, which is more clearly conveyed using bold or italicized text to avoid confusion with the ironic use. (Avoid being “misunderstood”!)
It’s like using brackets/parentheses in math or computer code. You can put a parenthetical inside another parenthetical. In English, you do the same thing to put a quote inside another quote by putting the single-quotes inside the double-quotes.
You can also just use single quotes instead of doubles; you see that in old English texts a lot more, I think it’s the last several decades or maybe century that we shifted to using double-quotes by default.
It’s like using brackets/parentheses in math or computer code. You can put a parenthetical inside another parenthetical. In English, you do the same thing to put a quote inside another quote by putting the single-quotes inside the double-quotes.
You can also just use single quotes instead of doubles; you see that in old English texts a lot more, I think it’s the last several decades or maybe century that we shifted to using double-quotes by default.
Just in case you’re asking about code and not grammar- either can be used to denote a string. They are non interfering so you can typically use either, unless the string contains a single or double quote. Some languages will also allow you to use ` in case the string has both.
Just in case you’re asking about code and not grammar- either can be used to denote a string. They are non interfering so you can typically use either, unless the string contains a single or double quote. Some languages will also allow you to use ` in case the string has both.
The apostrophe ( ‘ ) can be used as lesser quotation marks ( ” ) when a difference matters. For instance, sometimes when something is being quoted, the original quote also had a quote inside; you can use the apostrophe to separate the inner quote from the rest of the quote. Other times (such as headlines), there’s a need to separate a title without changing the font the way it normally would (underlining it) but without the emphasis a full quote mark would give it.
As a (popular) example: ” ‘You miss every shot you don’t take.’ -Wayne Gretzky” -Michael Scott. The Wayne Gretzky quote is surrounded by apostrophes, while the Michael Scott quote that was quoting Gretzky is surrounded by the more important quotation marks.
When looking at singular words, they are often used to insert *tone* into a toneless medium, so there are about as many rules as for that as there are accents in a language. Full quotation marks can be used for “sarcasm”, while apostrophes can be used to convey ’emphasis’ or ‘parenthetical thoughts’. As a general rule, quotation marks separate what’s inside from its sentence while apostrophes do the same but with less power.
Edit: This applies to the American English that I’m familiar with. It seems British English might switch the two (apostrophe for quotes and quotation marks for quoted quotes), but my lack of familiarity means I won’t say for sure. I’d suggest further reading if you ever want to write professionally, but the [wiki page](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quotation_marks_in_English) has some details that might be useful and includes the sarcasm use as well.
The apostrophe ( ‘ ) can be used as lesser quotation marks ( ” ) when a difference matters. For instance, sometimes when something is being quoted, the original quote also had a quote inside; you can use the apostrophe to separate the inner quote from the rest of the quote. Other times (such as headlines), there’s a need to separate a title without changing the font the way it normally would (underlining it) but without the emphasis a full quote mark would give it.
As a (popular) example: ” ‘You miss every shot you don’t take.’ -Wayne Gretzky” -Michael Scott. The Wayne Gretzky quote is surrounded by apostrophes, while the Michael Scott quote that was quoting Gretzky is surrounded by the more important quotation marks.
When looking at singular words, they are often used to insert *tone* into a toneless medium, so there are about as many rules as for that as there are accents in a language. Full quotation marks can be used for “sarcasm”, while apostrophes can be used to convey ’emphasis’ or ‘parenthetical thoughts’. As a general rule, quotation marks separate what’s inside from its sentence while apostrophes do the same but with less power.
Edit: This applies to the American English that I’m familiar with. It seems British English might switch the two (apostrophe for quotes and quotation marks for quoted quotes), but my lack of familiarity means I won’t say for sure. I’d suggest further reading if you ever want to write professionally, but the [wiki page](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quotation_marks_in_English) has some details that might be useful and includes the sarcasm use as well.
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