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Questions tagged [quotations]

Questions about quotations, a group of words taken from a text or speech and repeated by someone other than the original author or speaker.

For questions about (semi-)famous quotations, use ; for questions about quotation marks, use .

351 questions
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How do I quote nonconsecutive lines from a poem?

I'm writing an analysis of a poem and want to quote nonconsecutive lines. Is there a specific way to do this, or would I just use an ellipsis and no slash?
Purag
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4
votes
3 answers

How to quote in this situation?

Mark said, "it would ruin our school's reputation!" If I want to quote Mark here, Mark noted that doing so and so would "ruin _ school's reputation." If I want to emphasize that Mark identifies himself as part of the school by using "our," can I…
gonnastop
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4
votes
1 answer

Is it OK to add my explanation to a quotation?

If an original quotation includes a word that may cause confusion, is it OK that I write "Blabla (my clarification of the meaning of this word) blabla"? My explanation is not a part of the original quotation, so I was wondering whether it is OK to…
Ypbor
  • 149
4
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4 answers

Is there a proper way to quote something someone said in a press release without using the form: said Nate?

For example: "The English StackExchange site will pwn the crap out of all the other English language resource sites on the interwebs," said Jeff Atwood, CTO of Stack Overflow. Though I can't find a reference at the moment, I feel I have also seen…
Nate Pinchot
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Single quotes for single characters and double quotes for double?

I’ve been under the impression that you use single quotation marks for single characters or numerals. Usage: ‘1’ or ‘a’ and not “1” or “a”. (You would double quotation marks for anything longer than one character.) Is this a correct assumption?…
Ray
  • 534
3
votes
2 answers

When quoting, what's the difference between "someone says" and "as someone says"?

In formal/academic writing, I see some people start a quote by using "someone says" and others "as someone says...". For example, Toni Morrison argues that "the process of organizing American coherence through a distancing Africanism became the…
YTC
  • 31
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votes
1 answer

Quotation, "Who buys an American book?"

A British writer at the turn of the century (the 19th Century, of course, so call it 1810) asked "Who buys an American book?" He then listed many other "civilized" products not at the time produced in quantity by the former colonies -- and…
Michael Lorton
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2
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1 answer

What are standard ways for an editor to specify he is making a correction?

Suppose I am a reporter quoting someone, or an editor for someone's article. The original speaker/writer has made a mistake and I want to correct it in the edited version (while still being true to the original). What are standard ways to do…
Meni Rosenfeld
  • 138
2
votes
2 answers

Quotation near full stop

What is the correct way to quote this piece of text? The issues here are the initial letter which is now capitalized (I believe that is correct) and the omission of a few words near the period. Should the period still be present, should I remove it,…
Daniel
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vote
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Grammatically wrong quote

As a researcher, I often need to quote from the previous authors. Sometimes, it happens that there are spelling mistakes in the part I want to quote. I treat this as a human error and write the correct spelling. However, I am unsure how should I…
hola
  • 139
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vote
1 answer

“cloud” or "cloud" - is the quotation mark same?

I found two different quotation marks, "cloud" and “cloud”. What's the difference between these? Should I always use "" or “”.
Vxider
  • 11
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single quotes or not

She got mad because I didn't call Bob Principal Bob. Should it be She got mad because I didn't call Bob 'Principal Bob.' thanks
belle
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2 answers

Inserting Commas Into Quotations

I am currently writing my English coursework to hand in tomorrow and would very much appreciate some quick help. I would like to know whether I should insert commas into a quotation to make it read better. Here is the quote: Don’t Spy On Us is…
useruser
  • 13
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1 answer

should intentionally misspelled words be in quotations?

When we use intentionally misspelled words for effect, should the misspelled word be in quotations?
David
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1 answer

Question of including quotation or not.

When I write : My parent never told me that some criminals are being executed, Do I add a quotation mark before some and after executed when I am using "that"?
Chan
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