Page 169 - Perfect English Grammar: The Indispensable Guide to Excellent Writing and Speaking

Usually when you’re putting another set of quotation marks inside of
quotation marks, you change them to single quotation marks. Again, the

preceding software code example is an exception: you would keep the code
unchanged.

■ She said, “When we heard Neil Diamond sing ‘Song Sung Blue,’ we
became fans for life.”

When you are attributing a quote, you usually do it with a speaking verb and

the quotation offset by a comma. Each speaker’s turn is usually a new line of
dialog.

■ She told me, “There’s a ghost in the attic calling your name.”
■ “I heard him say it,” her sister said, “more than once.”

■ “There are too many reasons not to believe you,” I answered.

When what is inside the quotation marks is a full sentence or an independent

clause, capitalize the first letter, as in the preceding examples. Do not capitalize
it when it’s a phrase or fragment.

When quoting from a text, an attribution verb isn’t always necessary, as long
as it is clear from the context where it comes from.

■ Gandhi had much to say about forgiving others. If “forgiveness is an
attribute of the strong,” then blame must be an attribute of the weak.

However, if you are naming something as a quote or a similar piece of

language, such as referring to the very quote you’re going to quote, a colon may

be appropriate.

■ My father’s favorite expression: “Slicker than a bucket of boiled okra.”
■ The saying I like best is this old one: “Nobody dances at their own

funeral.”

Another use of quotes is to attribute a well-known name, such as to provide a