Quotation marks ( " " ) always come in pairs, one at the start and the other at the end of the material cited. The two main uses of quotation marks are

• To set off the exact words, written or spoken, of somebody else. As he stepped out on the surface of the moon, astronaut Neil Armstrong said, "One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." (Spoken)
• Linda Ellerbee always ends her newspaper column by saying, "And so it goes." (Written)

For a quotation within a quotation, use single quotation marks ( ' ' ) around the inside one.

• "Tomorrow," the English instructor told the class, "we will discuss the passage beginning, 'To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,' known as Macbeth's disillusionment speech."
• To set off stories, poems, titles of newspaper and magazine articles, short songs and speeches.
• Underline titles of books, newspapers, magazines, and long works. "News You Can Use" is a regular feature of U.S. News and World Report. (part of a magazine)
• The Viking Book of Poetry of the English-Speaking World includes one selection by King Henry VIII, a four stanza poem titled, "As the Holly Groweth Green." (a poem)
• The hymn "Ode to Joy" comes from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. (short piece of music)
• In "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" and "The Purloined Letter," Edgar Allen Poe introduced the concept of the shrewd investigator who solves mysteries by detecting facts. (short stories)
• Martin Luther King, Jr.'s ringing "I Have a Dream" speech has become a classic of modern oratory. (speech)

Quotation Marks With Other Punctuation
Commas and periods go inside the end quotation mark.

• "I never did anything worth doing by accident," said Thomas A. Edison, "nor did any of my inventions come by accident."
• "Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is the probable reason so few engage in it," commented Henry Ford.

Colons and semicolons go outside the end quotation mark.

• "Speak softly and carry a big stick": those words describe President Theodore Roosevelt's foreign policy.
• In 1773, Samuel Johnson, compiler of the first comprehensive English dictionary, wrote to a friend, "Read over your compositions, and wherever you meet a passage which you think is particularly fine, strike it out"; that is still sound advice for any writer.

Question marks, exclamation points and dashes go inside the end quotation marks when they are part of the quotation and outside the quotation marks when they apply to the sentence (or clause) as a whole.

• "Nuts!" said Gen. A. C. McAulifee in refusing the German demand to surrender in December 1944.
• "In what play did Shakespeare write, 'To be or not to be'? In what play did he write, 'What's in a name?'?"

NOTE: If a quotation ends with an exclamation point or question mark, inside or outside, no comma, period, or other mark is needed.

More About Quotations
For long quotations (four lines or more), use the indented block style. Do not use quotation marks.

In The Scarlet Letter, here is how Nathaniel Hawthorne describes Hester's first appearance with the "A":

On the breast of her gown, in fine red cloth, surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold-thread, appeared the letter A. It was so artistically done, and with so much fertility and gorgeous luxuriance of fancy, that it had all the effect of a last and fitting decoration to the apparel which she wore; and which was of a splendor in accordance with the taste of the age, but greatly beyond what was allowed by the sumptuary regulations of the colony.

For passages of poetry of more than two lines, indent and quote line for line, following the author's punctuation and capitalization exactly:

"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes—and ship—and sealing wax—
Of cabbages—and kings—
And why the sea is boiling hot—
And whether pigs have wings."
—from Through the Looking Glass, by Lewis Carroll

When writing dialog (two people speaking), start a new paragraph whenever the speaker changes.

"Do you know, Watson," said Holmes, as we sat together in the gathering darkness, "I have really some scruples as to taking you tonight. There is a distinct element of danger."

"Can I be of assistance?"

"Your presence might be invaluable."

"Then I shall certainly come."

"It is very kind of you."

—from "The Adventure of the Speckled Band," by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Miscellaneous
Quotation marks may be used around English words used as words, not for their meaning, as in a translation or definition.

• The words affect and effect are often confused. Affect is usually a verb meaning "to influence." When affect is used as a noun, it means "emotion." Effect is usually a noun meaning "result." When effect is used as a verb, it means "to bring something about" or "to make it happen."
• In Latin and Italian, it is la fenestra, in French it is la fenetre, in German it is das Fenster, but in English it is "window."

Some Don'ts
Don't use quotation marks with indirect quotations.

• He said that he will pay the rent tomorrow.

Don't use quotation marks unnecessarily. Don't use quotation marks to apologize for your words; use better words.