You Can Quote Us on That

Quotation marks, or “quotes” for short, like to work in pairs. But they’re not all the same. They can be double or single, left or right, curly or straight. Part of an editor’s job is to know which marks to use in which context—and to make sure they’ve been used consistently.

To test your knowledge of these indispensable little marks—and to learn more about them—take the quiz.

Subscribers to The Chicago Manual of Style Online may click through to the linked sections of the Manual (cited in most of the answers). (We also offer a 30-day free trial of CMOS Online.)

Note: Style guides sometimes disagree. Except for a few details that can be verified in standard dictionaries and encyclopedias and other readily available sources, the answers in this quiz rely on the information in The Chicago Manual of Style.

[Editor’s note: This quiz relies on and links to the 17th edition of CMOS.]

Chicago Style Workout 67: Quotation Marks

1. What makes “smart” quotation marks (also called “smart quotes”) smart?

They look stylish, or “smart.”

They have a different form depending on whether they open or close a quotation.

2. How many different commonly used quotation marks are there in English?

six

five

3. In Chicago style, periods and commas usually precede a closing quotation mark.

True

False

4. When a single quotation mark appears immediately next to a double quotation mark,

space should never be added between the two marks

space may be added between the marks to increase legibility

5. In Chicago style, a double quotation mark may be used to mean

feet

inches

neither feet nor inches

6. In Chicago style, italics and quotation marks are sometimes interchangeable.

True

False

7. I said no.

The example is correct as written.

The word no should be in quotation marks.

The word no should be in italics.

8. Quotation marks are sometimes referred to as inverted commas.

True

False

9. In modern British style, quotation marks are usually

single

double

10. French quotation marks—« »—are normally called

guillemets

fleurs-de-lis

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Curly-haired poodle by Mohit / Adobe Stock.

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