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In English writing, quotation marks or inverted commas, also known informally as quotes, talking marks, [1] [2] speech marks, [3] quote marks, quotemarks or speechmarks, are punctuation marks placed on either side of a word or phrase in order to identify it as a quotation, direct speech or a literal title or name.
Put text in small caps: set: Insert question mark: sp: Spell out: Used to indicate that an abbreviation should be spelled out, such as in its first use stet: Let it stand: Indicates that proofreading marks should be ignored and the copy unchanged tr: transpose: Transpose the two words selected wf: Wrong font: Put text in correct font ww [3 ...
Quotation marks [A] are punctuation marks used in pairs in various writing systems to identify direct speech, a quotation, or a phrase. The pair consists of an opening quotation mark and a closing quotation mark, which may or may not be the same glyph. [3] Quotation marks have a variety of forms in different languages and in different media.
Punctuation in the English language helps the reader to understand a sentence through visual means other than just the letters of the alphabet. [1] English punctuation has two complementary aspects: phonological punctuation, linked to how the sentence can be read aloud, particularly to pausing; [2] and grammatical punctuation, linked to the structure of the sentence. [3]
Similar changes in meaning can be achieved in spoken forms of most languages by using elements of speech such as suprasegmentals. The rules of punctuation vary with the language, location, register, and time. In online chat and text messages punctuation is used tachygraphically, especially among younger users.
Choosing the right punctuation, particularly in one-word or very short messages, can also help. An "Okay." with a period can seem more curt than an "Okay" sans punctuation, for example.
The ditto mark is a shorthand sign, used mostly in hand-written text, indicating that the words or figures above it are to be repeated. [1] [2]The mark is made using "a pair of apostrophes"; [1] "a pair of marks " used underneath a word"; [3] the symbol " (quotation mark); [2] [4] or the symbol ” (right double quotation mark).
The logical style is to include the mark of punctuation inside the quotation marks only if the sense of the mark of punctuation is part of the quotation. (A fuller treatment of the recommendations given here can be found in Fowler's Modern English Usage and other style guides for these countries, some of which vary in fine details.)