Quotation Mark Usage Practice Questions

1. “What” he asked “do you expect me to do?”

1. “What, he asked “do you expect me to do?”
2. “What” he asked, “do you expect me to do?”
3. “What,” he asked, “do you expect me to do?”
4. No error

2. The witness said, “When I asked him where he was, he said, ‘I was at home all night.’”

1. ‘When I asked him where he was, he said, “I was at home all night.”’
2. “When I asked him where he was, he said, I was at home all night.”
3. When I asked him where he was, he said, “I was at home all night.”
4. No error

3. She asked “what time you would be arriving.”

1. She asked, “what time you would be arriving.”
2. She asked what time you would be arriving.
3. She asked ‘what time you would be arriving.’
4. No error

4. Did he ask you first, “May I have permission to leave now?”?

1. Did he ask you first, “May I have permission to leave now?”
2. Did he ask you first, May I have permission to leave now?
3. Did he ask you first, “May I have permission to leave now??”
4. No error

5. Robert replied, “I asked Sally and she said, ‘I will not help your group’.”

1. Robert replied, I asked Sally and she said, “I will not help your group.”
2. Robert replied, “I asked Sally and she said, I will not help your group.”
3. Robert replied, “I asked Sally and she said, ‘I will not help your group.’”
4. No error

6. Haven’t you heard the old saying, “Neither a borrower nor a lender be”?

1. Haven’t you heard the old saying, “Neither a borrower nor a lender be?”
2. Haven’t you heard the old saying, “Neither a borrower nor a lender be?
3. Haven’t you heard the old saying, “Neither a borrower nor a lender be.”?
4. No error

7. We are forming an “ad hoc committee” and appointing you its “chairperson.”

1. We are forming an ad hoc committee and appointing you as its “chairperson.”
2. We are forming an ad hoc committee and appointing you as its chairperson.
3. We are forming an “ad hoc committee” and appointing you as its chairperson.
4. No error

8. “This is a step that you should never, ever skip when following this procedure correctly, said the professor.

1. “This is a step that you should never, ever skip when following this procedure correctly,” said the professor.
2. “This is a step that you should never, ever skip when following this procedure correctly, said the professor.”
3. This is a step that you should never, ever skip when following this procedure correctly, said the professor.
4. No error

9. “It is wonderful to be here in the great state [sic] of Chicago.” (Former U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle)

1. “It is wonderful to be here in the great state of Chicago.”
2. “It is wonderful to be here in the great [sic] state of Chicago.”
3. “It is wonderful to be here in the great state of [sic] Chicago.”
4. No error

10. The signs on the bathroom doors read “Roosters,” “Hens,” and “Unisex.” The little boy was confused about which one to enter.

1. “Roosters, Hens, and Unisex.”
2. “Roosters, Hens, and Unisex”.
3. “Roosters”, “Hens”, and Unisex.
4. No error

Answers – Quotation Mark Usage

1. C: Direct quotations should be set off from the rest of the sentence by commas, both when introducing them and interrupting them. Hence a comma follows “What” because the quotation is interrupted; and a comma after the interruption “he asked” precedes the rest of the quotation. A is missing the comma after “asked.” B is missing the comma after “What.”

2. D: This sentence is punctuated correctly. When a quotation contains another quotation within it, the outer quotation should be enclosed in double quotation marks (“xx”) and the inner quotation should be enclosed in single quotation marks (‘xx’) to differentiate it from the outer one. Choice (A) has the rule backwards. Choice (B) has no quotation marks around the second, inner quotation signaled by “he said.” Choice (C) has no quotation marks around the first, outer quotation (“When I asked him…”) introduced by the phrase the witness said.

3. B: No quotation marks should be used in this sentence because there is no direct quotation in it. What time you would be arriving is a dependent clause, introduced by the relative pronoun what and modifying the independent clause she asked. Quotation marks are only used with direct quotations. For example: She asked, “What time will you be arriving?” would be correct.

4. A: When the outer sentence is a question, and that question also contains a question within a quotation as is the case here, use only one question mark, placed inside of the quotation marks. Do not use two question marks inside and outside of the quotation marks as in the example. Do not use two question marks inside the quotation marks (C) either. The quotation must be enclosed in quotation marks, which are omitted in choice B.

5. C: When a quotation is made inside of a larger quotation, the inner quotation is set off by single quotation marks to distinguish it from the double quotation marks used for the primary outer quotation. (Double quotation marks are always used for a single quotation.) The period ending the sentence should be inside of both sets of quotation marks, not outside of the inner single quotation mark as in the example. Choice A has no quotation marks around the primary quotation (introduced by Robert replied). Choice B has no quotation marks around the internal quotation (introduced by she said).

6. D: This sentence is punctuated correctly. Question marks go inside of quotation marks, not outside of them (A). The outer sentence is a question (Haven’t you heard?) while the inner quotation (the saying) is an imperative. With quotation marks, only one punctuation mark is used, and the stronger punctuation mark takes precedence. Thus the period following the internally quoted saying (C) is omitted in favor of the question mark because the outer sentence is a question. The closing quotation mark at the end of the sentence is missing in choice B.

7. B: There should not be any quotation marks around either ad hoc committee or chairperson. These words are nouns. They are not slang expressions, insider jargon, or novel/unique expressions coined by a single individual or group, which would be surrounded by quotation marks; they are common terms familiar to most people. They are not quotations of what somebody said. Quotation marks are incorrect here as there is no reason to use them.

8. A: The quotation should be inside of quotation marks. In the example, there is an opening quotation mark, but no closing quotation mark. The comma after the professor’s statement, followed by said the professor, show that it is a quotation. The quotation marks incorrectly include said the professor in choice B. There are no quotation marks at all in choice C. (The only way this would be correct is if it were not a quotation, in which case the verb tenses would have to agree, e.g., This was a step you should never skip when following the procedure correctly, said the professor.)

9. D: This is correct. When quoting something with an error in it, use the term sic, from the Latin word meaning “so, “thus,” or “as such.” When used in brackets in English writing, it means “this is the way it was originally stated.” This clarifies that the writer did not make the error, but the person being quoted did, and the writer has reproduced the original error exactly in the quotation. Here, Quayle called Chicago a state instead of a city. The [sic] annotation typically immediately follows the error. Quoting this statement without [sic] (A) could be construed as meaning the writer quoting Quayle’s statement agrees that it is correct as it is. The [sic] should not follow great (B) or of (C), as neither of these words is the error.

10. D: This is punctuated correctly in the example. All commas and periods go inside quotation marks, and since this sentence is naming signs on bathroom doors, all three names should be individually enclosed in quotation marks. They should not all be included along with and within one set of quotation marks (A): this would suggest that all three names were on one sign, or all three names were on all three signs. The period should be outside of the end quotation mark (B). The third name, Unisex, should be inside quotation marks the same as the first two (C).