Describe your image
RUwrite
Apostrophes & Quotation Marks
Introduction
​
One perspective of looking at apostrophes and quotation marks is that they make writing personal. They add someone's personal words or possessive quality to a sentence. In short...
An apostrophe (’) is a punctuation mark that is used with a noun to show possession or to indicate where a letter has been left out to form a contraction.
Quotation marks (“ ”) set off a group of words from the rest of the text. Use quotation marks to indicate direct quotations of another person’s words or to indicate a title. Quotation marks always appear in pairs.
​
Learning Outcomes
​
By the end of this learning experience, you should feel confident with the following:
​
• Identify the various uses of apostrophes.
• Utilizing apostrophes correctly in sentences.
• Classifying the various uses of quotes.
• Applying quotes correctly in sentences.
Using Apostrophes
Possession
​
An apostrophe and the letter s indicate who or what owns something. To show possession with a singular noun, add ’s.
Jen’s dance routine mesmerized everyone in the room.
The dog’s leash is hanging on the hook beside the door.
Jess’s sister is also coming to the party.
Notice that singular nouns that end in s still take the apostrophe s (’s) ending to show possession.
To show possession with a plural noun that ends in s, just add an apostrophe (’). If the plural noun does not end in s, add an apostrophe and an s (’s).
Plural noun that ends in s: The drummers’ sticks all moved in the same rhythm, like a machine.
Plural noun that does not end in s: The people’s votes clearly showed that no one supported the management decision.
Contractions
​
A contraction is a word that is formed by combining two words. In a contraction, an apostrophe shows where one or more letters have been left out. Contractions are commonly used in informal writing but not in formal writing.
I do not like ice cream.
I don’t like ice cream.
Notice how the words do and not have been combined to form the contraction don’t. The apostrophe shows where the o in not has been left out.
We will see you later.
We’ll see you later.
Look at the chart for some examples of commonly used contractions.
aren’t
can’t
doesn’t
don’t
isn’t
he’ll
I’ll
she’ll
they’ll
you’ll
it’s
let’s
she’s
there’s
who’s
are not
cannot
does not
do not
is not
he will
I will
she will
they will
you will
it is, it has
let us
she is, she has
there is, there has
who is, who has
Tip
​
Be careful not to confuse it’s with its. It’s is a contraction of the words it and is. Its is a possessive pronoun.
It’s cold and rainy outside. (It is cold and rainy outside.)
The cat was chasing its tail. (Shows that the tail belongs to the cat.)
When in doubt, substitute the words it is in a sentence. If the sentence still makes sense, use the contraction it’s.
​
Practice
Once you have completed the practice quiz, scroll up inside the quiz box and
click "view score" and see the correct answers.
Using Direct Quotations
Direct Quotations
​
A direct quotation is an exact account of what someone said or wrote. To include a direct quotation in your writing, enclose the words in quotation marks. An indirect quotation is a restatement of what someone said or wrote. An indirect quotation does not use the person’s exact words. You do not need to use quotation marks for indirect quotations.
Direct quotation: Carly said, “I’m not ever going back there again.”
Indirect quotation: Carly said that she would never go back there.
Writing at Work
Most word processsing software is designed to catch errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation. While this can be a useful tool, it is better to be well acquainted with the rules of punctuation than to leave the thinking to the computer. Properly punctuated writing will convey your meaning clearly. Consider the subtle shifts in meaning in the following sentences:
The client said he thought our manuscript was garbage.
The client said, “He thought our manuscript was garbage.”
The first sentence reads as an indirect quote in which the client does not like the manuscript. But did he actually use the word “garbage”? (This would be alarming!) Or has the speaker paraphrased (and exaggerated) the client’s words?
The second sentence reads as a direct quote from the client. But who is “he” in this sentence? Is it a third party?
Word processing software would not catch this because the sentences are not grammatically incorrect. However, the meanings of the sentences are not the same. Understanding punctuation will help you write what you mean, and in this case, could save a lot of confusion around the office!
Punctuating Direct Quotations
​
Quotation marks show readers another person’s exact words. Often, you will want to identify who is speaking. You can do this at the beginning, middle, or end of the quote. Notice the use of commas and capitalized words.
Beginning: Madison said, “Let’s stop at the farmers market to buy some fresh vegetables for dinner.”
Middle: “Let’s stop at the farmers market,” Madison said, “to buy some fresh vegetables for dinner.”
End: “Let’s stop at the farmers market to buy some fresh vegetables for dinner,” Madison said.
Speaker not identified: “Let’s stop at the farmers market to buy some fresh vegetables for dinner.”
Always capitalize the first letter of a quote even if it is not the beginning of the sentence. When using identifying words in the middle of the quote, the beginning of the second part of the quote does not need to be capitalized.
Use commas between identifying words and quotes. Quotation marks must be placed aftercommas and periods. Place quotation marks after question marks and exclamation points only if the question or exclamation is part of the quoted text.
Question is part of quoted text: The new employee asked, “When is lunch?”
Question is not part of quoted text: Did you hear her say you were “the next Picasso”?
Exclamation is part of quoted text: My supervisor beamed, “Thanks for all of your hard work!”
Exclamation is not part of quoted text: He said I “single-handedly saved the company thousands of dollars”!
Quotations within Quotations
​
Use single quotation marks (‘ ’) to show a quotation within in a quotation.
Theresa said, “I wanted to take my dog to the festival, but the man at the gate said, ‘No dogs allowed.’”
“When you say, ‘I can’t help it,’ what exactly does that mean?”
“The instructions say, ‘Tighten the screws one at a time.’”
Titles
Use quotation marks around titles of short works of writing, such as essays, songs, poems, short stories, and chapters in books. Usually, titles of longer works, such as books, magazines, albums, newspapers, and novels, are italicized.
“Annabelle Lee” is one of my favorite romantic poems.
The New York Times has been in publication since 1851.
Writing at Work
In many businesses, the difference between exact wording and a paraphrase is extremely important. For legal purposes, or for the purposes of doing a job correctly, it can be important to know exactly what the client, customer, or supervisor said. Sometimes, important details can be lost when instructions are paraphrased. Use quotes to indicate exact words where needed, and let your coworkers know the source of the quotation (client, customer, peer, etc.).
Practice
Once you have completed the practice quiz, scroll up inside the quiz box and
click "view score" and see the correct answers.
Quotations and Parenthetical Citations
​
When you use quotations with parenthetical citations, you need to be careful about where the commas, quotation marks, and parentheses are placed in the sentence structure. Use quotation marks around the exact words you are quoting, and then follow the quotes with your parenthetical citation and the end punctuation.
​
Examples:
Virginia Woolf provided a picturesque narrative: "Everything had come to a standstill. The throb of the motor engines sounded like a pulse irregularly drumming through an entire body" (14).
​
“Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place, the Most High, who is my refuge—no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent. For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone” (Psalm, 91:9-12, ESV).
​
Subsequently, Wiley and Green (2012) introduced and defined the term Open Educational Resources at the 2002 UNESCO Forum: “Open Educational Resources are educational materials (e.g., course textbooks, research articles, videos, assessments, simulations, etc.) that are either (a) licensed under an open copyright license (e.g., Creative Commons) or (b) in the Public Domain” (p. 81).
​
Note: In each example, the quotation marks come before the parenthetical citation.
​
Licensing and Attribution
​
The following is from Chapter 3.4 of Writing For Success. Writing for Success by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.
​
The above is adapted from Chapter 3.5 of Writing For Success. Writing for Success by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.