WRITING LESSON : Punctuating Quotations

Quoted material that blends directly into your own prose and that cannot be mistaken for a complete sentence needs no extra punctuation mark (like an ellipsis):

* For Charles Dickens, the eighteenth century is both "the best of times" and "the worst of times"

When you use a phrase of attribution ("she said" or "John insisted on announcing" etc.), you need a colon or a comma after the phrase of attribution.

Use a colon before more formal independent clauses:

*In Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, Antony professes his respect for Brutus: "[t]his was the noblest Roman of them all" (5.5.74).

Use a comma before less formal statements or dependent clauses:

* Shakespeare's Antony notes, "[t]his was the noblest Roman of them all" (5.5.74).

If the phrase of attribution follows the quotation, use a comma unless the quotation ends with an exclamation point or a question mark:

* "She d[oes] so without the slightest hesitation," Dao recognizes in his daughter (Butler 58).

* "'Would you like me to clean it?'" his eldest daughter asks (Butler 58).


If you have omitted material from a quoted passage that appears to be a sentence or a series of sentences, use bracketed ellipsis with a space between each ellipsis [. . .] to indicate that your quotation does not completely reproduce the original:

If you quote only a word or a phrase, it will be obvious that you have left out some of the original sentence: do not use the ellipsis:

* Ralph and his cronies stand amidst the "burning wreckage" that is their inheritance, the home they have made for themselves (Golding 186).

If you wish to omit a word or words within a quoted sentence or phrase:


* "He g[ives] himself up to [. . .] great, shuddering spasms of grief that seem[] to wrench his whole body" (Golding 186).

If you wish to omit a word or words at the end of a quoted sentence or phrase before you move on to the next sentence in your quotation:


"The tears beg[i]n to flow [. . . ]. He g[ives] himself up to them now for the first time on the island; great, shuddering spasms of grief that seem[] to wrench his whole body" (Golding 186).

If you wish to omit a word or words at the end of a quoted sentence or phrase that ends your own sentence which you will follow with a parenthetical reference:


"And in the middle of them, with filthy body, matted hair, and unwiped nose, Ralph we[eps] for the end of innocence
[. . .]" (Golding 186).

If you wish to omit a word or words at the beginning of a quoted sentence or phrase:


"[. . .] [I]nfected by that emotion, the other little boys beg[i]n to shake and sob too" (Golding 186).

If you wish to alter quoted material in order to integrate it more smoothly into your own prose, use brackets to indicate the alteration (additional, clarifying information; change pronouns; change capitalization; change verb tense or number; etc.—not to add a period or comma):


* "Though [he is] loath to grieve / [t]he evil time's sole patriot," Emerson cannot neglect his elegiatic duty (1-2).

* On the day Lady dies, O'Hara's speaker stumbles about downtown New York in a parody of routine: he "get[s] a shoeshine" (3), does some shopping, and prepares to meet "the people who will feed [him]" (6).

If you quote two or more lines of verse, you must use a slash, with a space on each side, to indicate a line break:

* "Longing, we say, because desire is full / of endless distances" (Hass 24-25).

The comma and period always go inside the closing quotation mark when there is no parenthetical reference.

* "Really, there is no excuse for aggressive behavior," Billy said. "It sets a bad example."

The comma and period always go inside a quotation within another quotation when there is no parenthetical reference.

According to the film critic, "One of the most widely acclaimed actors in history, Humphrey Bogart, is quoted as saying, 'I don't like acting.'"

The period goes outside of the quotation mark when using a parenthetical reference.

"Animals have a variety of emotions similar to human's" (Erikson 990).


The colon and semicolon always go outside the closing quotation mark.

Nancy referred to this group of people as her "gang": Danica, Tess, Emily, and Josh.

Marx did not believe that "a single nation should have a single leader"; nevertheless, he became a leader singled out.

Place an exclamation point or a question mark inside
quotation marks when it punctuates the quotation, and outside when it punctuates the main sentence:

"Am I dreaming?"

Had she heard him say, "Here's the key to your new car"?