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Use double quote marks unless there is a quotation within a quotation.

  • “It's 'just like a bought one', as my brother would say.”

When only one letter is being quoted, use single quote marks.

  • The sentence should have started with an upper case 'M'.

When a question mark or exclamation mark is used at the end of a quote, there is no need for a full stop after the quotation marks.

  • “It's a fire!”
  • “How many cats did you say she adopted?”
  • “What did you want to talk about?”.

The closing quotation mark should be placed inside the full stop when only a fragment of the sentence is a quote.

  • She said she was “very pleased with the result”.
  • Joseph happily reported that he was “feeling very well after the surgery.”

When quotes run over several paragraphs the convention is to give opening quotation marks to the first and each subsequent paragraph, using closing quotation marks only for the final paragraph of the quotation.

  • “We raised over $850 for He Waka Kōtuia—the most money our concerts have ever raised.

    “It's a huge financial commitment for their whānau, tutors and their school so wherever we (Te Tumu staff and students) can help, then we will be there. Kapa haka is our way of life.”
  • “Harry's raised almost $1,000 personally over four years, mainly in response to his auntie's battle with cancer three years ago.”

    “It was an amazing effort by all involved. Everyone was inspired by the story of Luke, who had lost both his father and step father to cancer before the age of 10.”

About the Writing Style Guide

This guide is designed to help ensure writing style – whether for internal or external audiences, written for print or online – is consistent and maintains a professional standard across the University. It is not designed for academic writing.

Feedback

Please send any feedback – including reports of errors or requests for changes – to writing.style@otago.ac.nz

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