Using quotation marks in titles
About this video
David and Paige explain two uses of quotation marks: marking direct speech or quotes, and marking the titles of smaller works. Big, full works (books, albums, movies, TV shows, newspapers) get italics or underlining, while smaller works inside them (songs, poems, articles, TV episodes) go in quotation marks.
You'll be able to
- use quotation marks around direct dialogue.
- put the titles of smaller works such as songs, poems and articles in quotation marks.
- decide whether a title needs italics/underlining or quotation marks.
Key words
- quotation marks
- The marks " " placed around spoken words or the titles of smaller works.
- dialogue
- The words characters say out loud in a story.
- smaller work
- A piece that is part of a larger collection, like a song on an album or an article in a newspaper.
Transcript
- [David] Hello, grammarians. Hello, Paige.
- [Paige] Hi, David. - [David] So, today we're gonna be talking about quotation marks. What are they and what do they do? Paige Finch.
- [Paige] We use quotation marks to indicate when someone is speaking, right? So, if we're writing dialogue, we can say, "I like strawberry jam," said Lady Boffington.
- [David] So, that's one use of quotation marks, which is to quote direct dialogue or to quote from a broader work. We can also use quotation marks for the titles of things. So, Paige, if you remember, you can use underlines or italics to indicate the title of something big like a book of poetry or an album of songs or a movie or a television show.
- [Paige] Yep. - [David] So, Paige, for instance, one of my favorite albums is Gentle Giant's 1975 album Free Hand.
- [Paige] Okay, but that's with italics or an underline.
- [David] It's with italics, or an underline in this case since I'm writing it by hand. But track two on that record is called "On Reflection."
- [Paige] Okay, so we put quotes around each individual song on the album.
- [David] Right. So, this is the album, and this is a single song on it. Paige, let's say you and Jake wrote a book of bread poetry.
- [Paige] Okay, yes. - [David] Right? - [Paige] That is something I would do.
- [David] And you called it The Yeast I Can Do.
- [Paige] That is a great title. (laughs)
- [David] Thank you. - Right, so underline it to indicate that that's the full title. So, this is the book. And then, this book is made up of individual poems, so let's say you wrote a poem in the book called "Rye Do You Love Me?" Sure, why not? So that's in quotes and that indicates that this is a single work or a single poem.
- [Paige] Okay. - [David] Also, let me know when that book is coming out 'cause I'll buy your book of poetry. (Paige laughs) So, it's not just songs and poems, right? But it's also magazine and newspaper articles, TV episodes. Really, it's anything that is smaller than a larger work.
- [Paige] Right, it's something inside of a larger thing like a collection or--
- [David] Right. - [Paige] Yeah, an album.
- [David] So, if you were writing for a magazine or a newspaper, that newspaper's title, the Khan Academy Times, would be either italicized or underlined. But an article that you wrote for it would be in quotes. I think that about does it for quotation marks, Paige.
- [Paige] Yeah, David? - [David] Yeah. - [Paige] I think I thought of a bread poetry book name.
- [David] Okay, what is it? - [Paige] Loaves of Grass?
- [David] Yep. - [Paige] Yep. - [David] Yep, that's pretty good!
- [Paige] Okay. - [David] All right. Putting it in there. (Paige laughs) That's quotation marks. You can learn anything. David out.
- [Paige] Paige out. - [David] Loaves of Grass. (Paige laughs)
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