✏️ Grammar · Punctuation & Mechanics
Quotation Marks
Single or double, inside or outside — the simple rules for quoting words, naming titles and showing you don’t quite believe something.
Grammar › Punctuation & Mechanics › Quotation Marks
The rule in one sentenceQuotation marks show someone else’s exact words (the critic called Misery ‘unbearably tense’), the titles of short works, and words you are holding at a distance — British English usually uses single marks, American English double.
What are they for?
Quotation marks (also called inverted commas in Britain, or simply quotes) put a frame around words. The frame tells the reader: these words are not mine, or not quite normal. There are three main jobs. First, exact words: One reviewer described Shattered Glass as ‘a thriller without a single gun’. Second, titles of short works — an article, a song, a poem, a short story, a single episode: the article ‘Why Misery Still Frightens Writers’. Third, scare quotes, which show doubt or irony: The reporter’s ‘facts’ in Shattered Glass were invented.
Notice what is not in quotation marks: the film titles. Long works — films, novels, plays, albums — are written in italics, not quotes: Misery, Barton Fink, All the President’s Men. Quotes are for the short pieces inside a bigger work; italics are for the big work itself.
🎬 Compare: I read a short review called ‘Barton Fink at Thirty’ (quotes: an article) vs. I watched Barton Fink last night (italics: a film).
Short work = quotes. Long work = italics. When you cannot use italics (a text message, an exam answer by hand), quotes for a film title are accepted.
The four films on this page are all about people who work with words — a journalist who invented his stories, a novelist held prisoner by a fan, a screenwriter who cannot write, and two reporters chasing a scandal. That makes them perfect for practising the punctuation of words on the page.
How to use them
British style (single marks)
My teacher called Misery ‘a horror film for writers‘.
The full stop belongs to the whole sentence, so it sits outside.‘Barton Fink is not really a comedy,‘ she said.
Direct speech with a reporting verb: the comma goes inside.The critic wrote, ‘Calling Shattered Glass a “thriller“ is generous.‘
A quote inside a quote takes the other kind of mark: single outside, double inside.American style (double marks)
My teacher called Misery “a horror film for writers.“
American style tucks the full stop inside, even when it is not part of the quote.“Barton Fink is not really a comedy“ she said.
Missing comma. Before she said, both styles need a comma inside the closing mark.The critic wrote, “Calling Shattered Glass a ‘thriller‘ is generous.“
Double outside, single inside — the mirror image of the British pattern.When to use which
Use quotation marks for…
- Someone’s exact words: The programme called All the President’s Men ‘the film every journalism student should see’.
- Short works: the episode ‘Writers in Trouble’ · the article ‘Misery and the Fan’
- A word as a word: In Shattered Glass, the word ‘source’ is used again and again.
- Scare quotes (doubt or irony): The ‘evidence’ in Shattered Glass was a fake website.
Do not use quotation marks for…
- Film, book or play titles: write Misery in italics, not ‘Misery’.
- Reported speech: She said that Barton Fink was slow — no quotes, because these are not the exact words. See Reported Speech.
- Emphasis: This film is ‘brilliant’ actually suggests the opposite! Use bold or italics instead.
- Ordinary words you are simply using: The film is about a ‘journalist’ is wrong if he really is one.
Spot the pattern
These words and situations tell you a pair of quotation marks is coming.
Visual guide
Teacher Teddy’s illustrated guide to this rule is being drawn — the full swipe-through infographic will appear here soon.
Common mistakes
❌ ‘All the President’s Men is still exciting’ he said.
✅ ‘All the President’s Men is still exciting,‘ he said.
When a reporting verb (he said) follows the quote, a comma separates them — and it goes inside the closing mark in both British and American style.
❌ She said that ‘Misery was the scariest film she had ever seen’.
✅ She said that Misery was the scariest film she had ever seen. / She said, ‘Misery is the scariest film I’ve ever seen.’
Choose one: reported speech (no quotes, tenses shift back) or direct speech (quotes, exact words). Mixing them puts words in quotes that nobody actually said.
❌ We studied “Barton Fink” in film class.
✅ We studied Barton Fink in film class.
A film is a long work, so its title takes italics. Quotes are for the short pieces — an article about the film, not the film itself.
British vs American note: British English usually uses single marks (‘…’) and puts a full stop or comma outside the closing mark unless it belongs to the quoted words — the ‘logical’ style. American English uses double marks (“…”) and puts full stops and commas inside the closing mark every time. Question marks and exclamation marks follow logic in both. For more, see British vs American Punctuation.
Exceptions & tricky cases
1. Where does the question mark go? Inside the quote if the quoted words ask the question; outside if your sentence asks it.
✅ Did the reviewer really call Shattered Glass ‘the best film about journalism since All the President’s Men’? (my question — mark outside)
✅ The editor’s note asked, ‘Where is the proof?’ (their question — mark inside)
2. Apostrophes inside single quotes can look confusing. ‘All the President’s Men’ has an apostrophe sitting next to a closing quotation mark. It is not wrong, but it is one more reason to give film titles italics instead: All the President’s Men.
3. Scare quotes work once — not every time. One pair of marks around ‘facts’ tells the reader the journalist in Shattered Glass made them up. Put quotes around every second word and the irony disappears, and the writing starts to look nervous. Use them rarely, and never for emphasis.
Practice: fix the quotation marks
Seven quick questions. Choose the version you would write in British English — you get the explanation either way.
1. Which is British style?
British English prefers single marks, with the full stop outside when it is not part of the quote.
2. Which is correct?
A comma separates the speech from “she said”, and it goes inside the closing mark.
3. How should the film title be written?
Film titles take italics; quotation marks are for short works like articles and episodes.
4. Which shows a quote inside a quote in British style?
Switch to the other kind of mark inside: single outside, double inside.
5. Which is correct?
Reported speech has no quotation marks — the words are not exact.
6. Where does the question mark go? “Did she really describe Misery as ___”
The whole sentence is the question, not the quoted word, so the mark sits outside.
7. What do the quotes mean here? “The ‘journalist’ in Shattered Glass invented his stories.”
Scare quotes hold a word at a distance: the writer does not accept it.
Keep going
Related lessons in Punctuation & Mechanics:
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