英文中正确地使用引号2
Quotation marks are primarily used to indicate material that is being reproduced word for word, as well as some other important uses.
Quotation marks and adjacent punctuation
Though not necessarily logical, the American rules for multiple punctuation with quotation marks are firmly established. (See here for a brief explanation of the British style.)
Commas and periods that are part of the overall sentence go inside the quotation marks, even though they aren’t part of the original quotation.
Correct
“The best investments today,” according to Smith, “are commodities and emerging-market stocks.”
Incorrect
“The best investments today”, according to Smith, “are commodities and emerging-market stocks”.
Unless they are part of the original quotation, all marks other than commas or periods are placed outside the quotation marks.
Correct
She provides a thorough list of problems in her most recent article, “Misery in Paradise”; she doesn’t provide a solution.
Incorrect
She provides a thorough list of problems in her most recent article, “Misery in Paradise;” she doesn’t provide a solution.
Correct
Wasn’t it Dickens who wrote, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”?
Incorrect
Wasn’t it Dickens who wrote, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times?”
For more on the proper use of multiple punctuation at the end of a sentence, see here.
Quoting the words of others
There are two ways to incorporate quotations in your writing: run-in quotations and block quotations.
Run-in quotations
Short quotations can generally be run in to the main text using quotation marks.
Example
In his novel White Noise, Don DeLillo neatly summarizes the materialist philosophy: “It’s all this activity in the brain and you don’t know what’s you as a person and what’s some neuron that just happens to fire or just happens to misfire.”
Block quotations
Longer quotations should be set off from the main text, and are referred to as block quotations. Because the quoted material is set off from the main text, it is not necessary to use quotation marks. Style varies, but at a minimum a block quotation should have a bigger left-hand margin than the main text. In contrast to the main text, a block quotation might also have a bigger right-hand margin, be in a smaller or otherwise different font, or have reduced line spacing.
Example
In Walden, Henry David Thoreau makes the case for following one’s dreams:
I learned this, at least, by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. He will put some things behind, will pass an invisible boundary; new, universal, and more liberal laws will begin to establish themselves around and within him; or the old laws be expanded, and interpreted in his favor in a more liberal sense, and he will live with the license of a higher order of beings.
How do you determine if your quotation is short (allowing it to be incorporated into the main text) or long (requiring a block quotation)? It depends. For academic writing, the MLA Handbook requires block quotations whenever the quoted material exceeds four lines, while the American Psychological Association (APA) requires block quotations for anything exceeding forty words. The Chicago Manual of Style suggests 100 words or more as a general rule, but offers many factors other than length to be considered.
Introducing the quoted material: when to use a comma, colon, period, or no punctuation at all.
Comma
The comma is the mark most frequently used to introduce quoted material.
Examples
The flight attendant asked, “May I see your boarding pass?”
Buddha says, “Even death is not to be feared by one who has lived wisely.”
Colon
A colon should be used when the text introducing the quoted material could stand as a sentence on its own. It is also the mark most commonly used to introduce a block quotation.
Example
In Food Rules, Michael Pollan summarizes his extensive writing about food with seven words of advice: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”
Period
A period can be used to introduce a block quotation when the introductory text stands on its own as a complete sentence. In such cases, a colon is also proper—and sometimes preferable.
No punctuation
When the quoted material flows directly from your introductory text, no punctuation should be used before the quotation. A very short quotation may also be introduced without punctuation. The unpunctuated lead-in is most commonly used with run-in quotations, but it is also appropriate for introducing block quotations that flow directly from the introductory text.
Examples
In her closing statement, the prosecutor spoke forcefully of the defendant’s “callous disregard for human life.”
Though marshaling little evidence, the authors claim that “over half of British prisoners come from single-parent households.”
We tried to persuade him, but he said “No way.”
The phrase “be that as it may” appears far too often in this manuscript.
Quotes within quotes
When a run-in quotation contains quotation marks within the quoted material itself, use single quotation marks in their place. When the material being quoted contains a quotation within a quotation (i.e., something in single quotation marks), use double quotation marks.
Example
The author’s final argument is less convincing: “When Brown writes of ‘interpreting the matter through a “structuralist” lens,’ he opens himself to the same criticism he made earlier in his own paper.”
Other uses of quotations marks
Writing about letters and words
Quotation marks can be used when referring to a specific word or letter. (Some writers instead use italics for this purpose, as I have in this guide.)
Example
In the previous sentence, “letter” was properly spelled with two “t”s.
Translations
As an alternative to parentheses, quotation marks can be used to enclose a translation. In this case, it is necessary to set the translation off with commas.
Example
His knowledge of Portuguese is limited to obrigado, “thank you,” and adeus, “goodbye.”
Less commonly, single quotation marks are used in place of parentheses, in which case the translation is not set off with commas. Also, any punctuation otherwise required by the structure of the sentence is placed outside the single quotation marks.
Example
His knowledge of Portuguese is limited to obrigado ‘thank you’ and adeus ‘goodbye’.
Scare quotes
Scare quotes (also known as sneer quotes) are used to cast doubt on a word or phrase, or to emphasize that the word or phrase is being used as a euphemism.
Examples
He rarely spoke of the “incident” that caused him to leave his previous employer.
The think tank’s “analysis” of the issue left much to be desired.
Nicknames
When inserted in the middle of a person’s actual name, a nickname should appear in quotation marks.
Example
Henry M. “Hank” Paulson Jr.
Greg “The Shark” Norman
Measurements
In informal writing, feet and inches are sometimes expressed as, for example, 5′ 10″ (read: five feet and ten inches). Technically, the mark designating feet is a prime; the mark designating inches is a double prime. These marks are available in most word processors, though many people simply use single and double quotation marks: 5’ 10”.
Periods and commas are placed outside the prime and double prime marks.
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