A longstanding rule for acquiring products or services is to get at least 3 quotes from prospective providers. This 3 quote rule makes sense, but if all you look at is price, you may end up with a product or service that does not meet your needs.
One of the most common uses of quotation marks is to indicate a direct quote, a passage that is copied verbatim from another source. If you're using the same word, sentence, or phrase as another author, put those words in between quotation marks.
Rules for Using Quotation Marks
Quotation marks are most often used to mark something that is spoken or, in other words, to designate a direct quote. That is, they display something that's been said, word for word.
Use quotation marks to show that you are writing the exact words that someone said or wrote. “Finally.” My mother rose to her feet. “Your father is home.” Use single quotation marks to enclose a quotation within a quotation.
Use double quotation marks to set off a direct (word-for-word) quotation. Correct: “I hope you will be here,” he said. Incorrect: He said that he “hoped I would be there.” (The quotation marks are incorrect because hoped I would be there does not state the speaker's exact words.)
British/Australian English Uses 'Single' Quotation Marks
In British/Australian English, we use these single quotation marks when quoting or indicating speech: ' '. It is American English that uses these double quotation marks: “ ”.
Quotations should provide clear parameters and a fixed price that should not change if the customer accepts the quotation. Estimates, on the other hand, provide an estimated approximation of the costs involved. Depending on your industry, it may not be possible to issue a quotation with a fixed cost.
Direct Quotations
sentence. Example: My sister said, “I need to do my homework.” If the quoted material is a fragment or a phrase, do not capitalize the first letter. Example: The phrase “don‟t win in practice” is consistent for all sports.
Quotation marks are used to indicate the beginning and end of a quote. They tell the reader when you've used written material from other sources or direct speech. A direct quotation tells the reader when words are taken directly from another text or source.
Use quotation marks only when quoting someone's exact words, either spoken or written. This is called a direct quotation. "I prefer my cherries chocolate covered," joked Alyssa. Jackie kept repeating, "Good dog, good dog!"
Quotation analysis refers to the process of fully integrating source material into our own writing by (1) signaling to the reader that source material is coming; (2) providing the source material; and (3) interpreting or analyzing the source material to make meaning.
In American English, use double quotation marks for quotations and single quotation marks for quotations within quotations. In British English, use single quotation marks for quotations and double quotation marks for quotations within quotations.
A quote is legally binding if it forms part of a contract. A quote becomes a contract when the trader offers work for a fixed price and the consumer accepts the offer including the conditions of the quote. Neither party can withdraw from or change the contract without the other's consent.
Double quotation marks are used for direct quotations and titles of compositions such as books, plays, movies, songs, lectures and TV shows. They also can be used to indicate irony and introduce an unfamiliar term or nickname. Single quotation marks are used for a quote within a quote.
Quotation marks can be double ("-") or single ('-'). If we want to use quotation marks inside quotation marks, then we use single inside double, or double inside single. He said to her: "I thought 'Titanic' was a good film." He said to her: 'I thought "Titanic" was a good film.
In American English, a quote that comes at the end of a sentence will contain a period inside the final quotation marks. ✅ Correct: She said, “Goodbye.” ❌ Incorrect: She said, “Goodbye”.
Block quotations do not get quotation marks. Slang or clichés also fall into this category. If you're writing something with a phrase that may be cliche or slang, do not place the word in quotation marks. And when you are writing an academic paper, do not use quotation marks around the title of your work.
If a quotation begins the sentence, set it off with a comma from the unquoted part of the sentence unless it ends with a question mark or exclamation point. Because the explanatory words simply continue the sentence, do not begin them with a capital letter.
When a comma or period is needed after a quotation, publishers in the United States typically put the punctuation mark before the closing quotation mark. The reason for this convention is to improve the appearance of the text. The convention goes back at least to the nineteenth century.
A quotation offers a second voice that echoes your thoughts, beliefs, and claims. They said it better: Quotations provide a better way of saying things. They give you a more concise, memorable phrasing for an idea. This is especially true for famous quotations.
The use of quotation marks, also called inverted commas, is very slightly complicated by the fact that there are two types: single quotes (` ') and double quotes (" ").