Home > Common Errors Workbook > Quotations within quotations > Introduction >
     
Quotations within quotations
Introduction

Occasionally, a quotation is contained within a quoted passage. Use the following punctuation rules in this situation.

  1. Locate the quotation inside the quoted passage.

  2. Use single quotation marks around a quotation within a quoted passage.

    Example: According to an article about a new treatment for asthma, "Over 76 percent of the patients were "very happy" with the results."

    In this example, "very happy" is a quotation within a quoted passage. Therefore, it needs to have single quotation marks around it.

    Revised: According to an article about a new treatment for asthma, "Over 76 percent of the patients were 'very happy' with the results."

Remember: Use single quotation marks around a quotation within a quotation.



Copyright © 1995-2008, Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Longman Legal and Privacy Terms