Ascension Editing

Quotes and quotation marks Part Two

ascensionediting — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 22:00:10 +0000

Welcome back to weekly tips...

Unnecessary Quote Marks

Let's "knock down the door" and "barge in", ey.

Single and double quotation marks

Double quotation marks are reserved for ‘quotes within quotes’, whereas single quotation marks are used for quotations according to the Style Guide & Cambridge Guide to English Usage.

Example:

He said ‘I don’t like it when you call him “Big Ears”; it’s insulting!’

Nevertheless, except for government publications (where single quotation marks are preferred), it is acceptable to use double quotation marks as a first option if this is your preference. Double quotation marks (in the first instance) are preferred in journalism and the media.

Linguistic slumming

Beware of authors who use quote marks for the linguistic equivalent of slumming, partaking of colloquial vocabulary and sneering at it at the same time. If the use of ‘scare quotes’ is ‘over the top’ it can put the reader ‘off-side’, and in the ‘worst-case scenario’ it’s a real ‘turn-off’.

Source: The Editor’s Companion, 2004.

Quotes and tone

Be sparing with quotes. Direct quotes should be used when either the speaker or what he said is surprising, or when the words he used are particularly pithy or graphic. Otherwise you can probably paraphrase him more concisely. The most pointless quote is the inconsequential remark attributed to a nameless source: ‘Everyone wants to be in on the act,’ says one high-ranking civil servant.

Source: The Economist Style Guide

Quotation marks or inverted commas?

The term ‘inverted commas’ has been used and is still sometimes used (most prevalently in UK English). However, the currently preferred and most commonly used term is quotation marks, or in short, quote marks.

Tagged: quotation marks, quotes

Quotes and quotation marks

ascensionediting — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 22:00:40 +0000

Two punctuation marks at the end of a sentence

When two punctuation marks coincide at the end of a sentence, do you need both? The general principles are:

If the marks are the same, only one is needed.
If they are different, the stronger or ‘heavier’ one takes precedence.

A question mark thus supersedes a full stop used to mark the end of a sentence or quotation:

He asked, ‘Do you want a lift?’
What did they mean by ‘Further information is needed’?

In each case, the question mark takes over from the full stop which might have appeared on the other side of the quote marks.

Source: The Cambridge Guide to English Usage, 2004.

P. 116 Place the terminating punctuation inside the closing quotation mark when there is no carrier expression, but outside teh closing quotation mark whenever there is a carrier expression:

‘It’s great fun. I love being an advocate.’

But

She laughed and said, ‘It’s great fun. I love being an advocate’.

When two different punctuation marks would logically appear together—one applying to the quotation and the other to the sentence—it is a question of deciding which is the stronger and retaining only that:

He heard the Speaker call ‘Order!’
A person might ask, ‘Why should a prospective employer have access to my medical records?’

But

Did you hear her say ‘Hooray for the digital age’?
On this note, the last bullet point in a list takes a full stop—unless some bullet points contain more than one sentence, in which case it would be more consistent to place a full stop after each bullet point in the list.

Source: Style Manual, sixth edition*

*Style Manual fifth edition—note that style rules change. It may be best to replace the 5th edition if you are using it, as it states: When two different punctuation marks appear together, one applying to the quotation and the other to the sentence, both should be printed. (*He said, ‘Do you think I am mad?’.)

Janet Mackenzie on quotation marks:

Americans cut through this dilemma by placing all end punctuation inside the closing quote mark, and dialogue in novels also follows this practice. It doesn’t matter which rule you follow; the reader will soon get used to it as long as the system has some logic and is consistently applied.

Source: The Editor’s Companion, 2004.

Question Marks

ascensionediting — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 22:00:25 +0000

cartoonstock.com

The main function of a question mark is to indicate a question or query.

1. Use a question mark at the end of all direct questions:

What is your name?
How much money did you transfer?
Did you send euro or dollars?

2. Use a question mark after a tag question:

You’re French, aren’t you?
Snow isn’t green, is it?
He should go and see a doctor, shouldn’t he?

3. Don’t forget to use a question mark at the end of a sentence that really is a direct question:

How else would I get there, after all?
What if I said to you, ‘I don’t love you any more’?
‘Who knows when I’ll die?’, he asked rhetorically.

4. Do not use a question mark after an indirect or reported question:

The teacher asked them what their names were. (What are your names?)
John asked Mary if she loved him. (Do you love me?)
I’m wondering if she’s coming. (Is she coming?)

5. Be careful with titles and abbreviations when question marks are involved:

‘Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf?’ was a play before it was a film.
Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf? was a play before it was a film.
Have you seen the film ‘Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf?’?
Have you seen the film Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf??
Have you ever been to L.A.?

Note that there should be no space immediately before a question mark.

Source: englishclub.com

offthemark.com

Remember point 4:

‘Ask yourself if they would be looking at the negatives?’ —this is not a question; it does not end with a question mark.
But Ask yourself: ‘Would they be looking at the negatives?’ ♥
‘Ask yourself how you like to learn?’ Again, this is not a question. Use a full stop.
But Ask yourself: ‘How do I like to learn?’ ♥

‘Will they be looking at the negatives?’ and ‘How do I like to learn?’ are questions and deserve question marks.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Tagged: question marks

Prepositions

ascensionediting — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 22:00:06 +0000

source:www.cartoonstock.com

A preposition links nouns, pronouns and phrases to other words in a sentence. The word or phrase that the preposition introduces is called the object of the preposition.

A preposition usually indicates the temporal, spatial or logical relationship of its object to the rest of the sentence as in the following examples:

The book is on the table.
The book is beneath the table.
The book is leaning against the table.
The book is beside the table.
She held the book over the table.
She read the book during class.

In each of the preceding sentences, a preposition locates the noun “book” in space or in time.

Each of the highlighted words in the following sentences is a preposition:

The children climbed the mountain without fear.

In this sentence, the preposition “without” introduces the noun “fear.” The prepositional phrase “without fear” functions as an adverb describing how the children climbed.

There was rejoicing throughout the land when the government was defeated.

Here, the preposition “throughout” introduces the noun phrase “the land.” The prepositional phrase acts as an adverb describing the location of the rejoicing.

The spider crawled slowly along the banister.

The preposition “along” introduces the noun phrase “the banister” and the prepositional phrase “along the banister” acts as an adverb, describing where the spider crawled.

The dog is hiding under the porch because it knows it will be punished for chewing up a new pair of shoes.

Here the preposition “under” introduces the prepositional phrase “under the porch,” which acts as an adverb modifying the compound verb “is hiding.”

The screenwriter searched for the manuscript he was certain was somewhere in his office.

Similarly in this sentence, the preposition “in” introduces a prepositional phrase “in his office,” which acts as an adverb describing the location of the missing papers.

Source: University of Ottowa Writing Centre

Not under what circumstances but in what circumstances.
You don’t work under situations; you work in situations.
Under what conditions is correct.
You are not submerged with crises; you are submerged in crises.
He is ~~typical to~~ typical of most managers in terms of…

From Quick and Dirty Tips:

When Can a Sentence End with a Preposition?

Here’s an example of a sentence that can end with a preposition: What did you step on? A key point, you might say the Quick and Dirty Tip, is that the sentence doesn’t work if you leave off the preposition. You can’t say, “What did you step?” You need to say, “What did you step on?” to make a grammatical sentence.

I can hear some of you gnashing your teeth right now, while you think, “What about saying, ‘On what did you step?’” But really, have you ever heard anyone talk that way? I’ve read long, contorted arguments from noted grammarians about why it’s OK to end sentences with prepositions when the preposition isn’t extraneous (1), but the driving point still seems to be, “Nobody in their right mind talks this way.” Yes, you could say, “On what did you step?” but not even grammarians think you should.

A couple from Georgia and a couple from the Northeast were seated side by side on an airplane.The girl from Georgia, being friendly and all, said, “So, where y’all from?”The Northeast girl said, “From a place where they know better than to use a preposition at the end of a sentence.”The girl from Georgia sat quietly for a few moments and then replied: “So, where y’all from, bitch?” (Joke: Daniel Miessler)

Tagged: prepositions

Practise/Practice

ascensionediting — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 22:00:30 +0000

The choice between these depends first on which variety of English you’re writing, and secondly on grammar: In British and Australian English, practice is the standard spelling for the noun, and practise for the verb. … American English uses practice for the verb and the noun.

Source: Cambridge Guide to English Usage

Examples for Australian/British English:

In practice, you practise for hours on end.
Practise holding your breath for ten seconds.
It is his practice to hold his breath.
USQ observes best practice [noun]; I practise [verb] law in the legal practice; it’s good practice to practise your spelling.