Can i italicize a quote

Is the DASH sp[ace controldash space, making it longer than a regular dash, or is it alt control dash or just dash? Plus, is afteralll, after-all? I know, I am dumb, but your advice is paramount. How do you get paid? If I submit a sample for quote on editing, you require a chapter and page , does that mean an average of words per page? Please read the above if you get time. Shouting is identified through the words and an exclamation point, if one is truly necessary.

But could you use a few instances of all caps under certain conditions? You could. And for only one or two words at a time, not long sentences. This is something you might have to play by ear, but the fewer words with all caps, the stronger the impact will be when you actually use all caps.

Maybe a character has been taken over by a demon and speaks with a powerful demon voice—that might be the time you could get away with all caps. There are other ways of inserting the em dash as well. And there are no spaces. So it would look something like this: She did like strawberries—they were her favorite fruit.

For British English, the en dash is often used instead. It is surrounded by spaces. The en dash is shorter than an em dash but still longer than a hyphen. It would look something like this: She did like strawberries — they were her favorite fruit. As for submitting a sample for a quote, I require at least the first chapter and the chapter that contains page not just page However, I really like having as much to work with as possible, you if you send submit something, sending the full manuscript is best.

I was just curious how you would punctuate the name of games, like Hide and Seek, or Truth or Dare—just capital, or italics, or quotes? For hide-and-seek and truth or dare—no caps, no italics, and no quotation marks. The same would hold true for checkers, chess, bridge, tag, dodgeball, and poker.

Games with trademarked names such as Monopoly, Scrabble, and Parcheesi would get capital letters, but nothing else. For video games, capitalize initial letters of each word. For this one, you have some leeway—just be consistent. Is there something missing from your comment? I found these tips helpful, but I was curious about another instance.

What about the name of a program? Capital letters should be sufficient. Computer programs are also capped but not italicized.

The titles of computer games can be italicized, but apparently that one is not set in stone. Make a choice and then be consistent. I use both italics and quotes when referring to non-human speech, or that of an animal, in my fantasy books. It helps to differentiate between that of ordinary speaking and that of an entity or spirit. But how do you differentiate between thoughts in quotes and dialogue in quotes?

Can readers easily tell the difference? Thank you for a great article! Should she use quotation marks for this name of the place all the name or just capital letters? Amy, no quotation marks are necessary. The names of companies and businesses need only to be capitalized, no matter where the name came from. I have written a novel in American English. How do I write am and pm? Could you give me an I idea of format for a Nora Roberts kind of size. Could you confirm proper industry size? I have margins currently at 2.

I know the inside and outside sound ass about but it is the only way I can get my opening page lined up so spine is the bigger margin. I am trying to keep page numbers down and it looks okay on the eye, although there are more than normal words on a page and font is 11 tnr. Yes I am that dumb! He he. I requested a comment on using famous writers quotes; Shakespeare and Banjo Patterson — at the beginning of a novel, pre story. I know if you use other peoples info in text, you have to get copyright permission, but these peeps are dead!

Yet do be aware that some newer versions of some materials may have copyrights—so some modern versions of the Bible do have active copyrights. If so, let me know. Would it be wrong to italicize a quote like that?

An epigraph? In that case, the choice is solely up to you. Italics or roman, either is acceptable. Just be consistent if you include multiple quotations. I just wanted it to be correct. Again, I really appreciate you taking the time to answer my question. Hi Beth, Thank you very much for your article. I wrote a novel in my language and since last September, I have been working on its translation in English.

The second part of the story is taking place in England and the main characters are French. When they speak to each other, they use a mixture of French and English words. I decided to italicise the English words. Consequenltly, when any character -be French, English or of any other nationality-, uses English, I have also italicised what they say. Is there a rule for that particular situation?

Also some characters who are not French use French when they speak. Should it be italicised? Merci for your help. Are there long sections in English? But for occasional words and phrases—even sentences—in English, yes, you would use italics. The italics use is for your readers—it identifies words in a foreign language, which in your book means a language other than French.

Does that answer both your concerns? Do italicize words in what is not the primary language of your story. But try not to have too many of such words in your story. Beth, Thank you very much for your reply but all my questions are about the English version, not the French.

Sorry if I was not clear in my previous message and merci encore. In that case, you want to italicize the French but not the English. So italicize any words not in the major language of the story. Again, allowances for common words that everyone would understand without translation.

This is a cue for the reader and has nothing to do with character. Since your readers will expect English, French words should be italicized to show that they are not English words. If you want to show characters speaking a language other than the main language the story is written in and need to convey what they are saying, put the scene in the viewpoint of one of the characters who is speaking and try something like this—.

Charles and Marc switched over to French when Billy entered the room. Not to intentionally keep the information from him, but he was a gossip. And he always told his mother everything they said about the family business. And you should let the readers know when they switch to English. Hello, Thank you so much for all the information. What a service this is. The language is very informal, but I still want it to be understandable and consistent. I was using common phrases in a sentence.

Thanks, again. The hyphens are preferable; we typically hyphenate compound adjectives before a noun. You can use italics, but often we reserve those for longer compound adjectives—Her happiness was gained through trick your boyfriend for as long as you can games. Yet even for something such as this sentence, the hyphens would work. What were you thinking needed emphasis? If the narrator is speaking to himself using a conversational format, i.

Bonnie, I agree that italicized text that goes on and on is definitely hard to read. There are options for working around the need for italicized text. While writers can use italics for thoughts directed from a character to himself, italics are not a requirement for that format. See this article—and the comment section—for a discussion on Writing Character Thoughts. A quick question. In one of my stories, I have a ship named The Lucky Lady.

I know, according to this blog, the name would be in italics. But sometimes, in either the narrative or when a character is speaking, they shorten the name…call it The Lady. My question is, do the same rules apply when that is done? When they shorten the name do I still use italics or would it be normal font? Yes, use italics even when a character shortens the name of a ship.

Do the same for other titles. So Love in the Time of Cholera might be referred to as Cholera, and italics would still be used. Thank you so much for your speedy reply! Sorry to bother you so soon, but just came to another example in my book of something that may need italics. For example…. Or written as is? Thanks again for the help.

The Chicago Manual of Style advises that we capitalize words from common signs and mottoes used in running text if the phrase is short—no italics and no quotation marks. But CMOS does recommend quotation marks for longer messages. And you could argue that a T-shirt is a sign of a sort. However, a quick check of a handful of newspapers shows that they all use quotation marks for the text of a T-shirt. Capitalize only the first word. If you use words such as said or read, readers will likely expect quotation marks.

Remember to capitalize just the first word. Thanks so much! Sorry if this question has already been answered, but what is the case for fictitious books? Would I italicize the title of that book in my essay? If not, how should I format it? Thank you for this. I generally use made up magazine names, tv show titles, etc. And I quite understand using fictitious names and titles.

Beth, I always check your blog when I have questions. My question concerns this sentence:. Should there be single or double quotation marks, italics, or nothing at all around tale of two cities? Thanks, Cassie. If so, you need capital letters and italics. Beth, thanks so much for answering so quickly! I truly appreciate it. Yes, the character is referring to the book title. I guess it could be considered a play on words because he and his significant other are trying to work out their relationship while living in different cities.

In that case, would it still need caps and italics? Does that settle the issue for you? Oh, my goodness, thank you so very, very much! Your explanation is exactly what I was looking for! You are a treasure for writers! Thank you, Beth! Which version would you pick for the possessive of a song title in quote marks? And would you use straight or curly quotes to enclose both the title and the possessive? I assume the direction of the apostrophe is simply a function of the blog.

But use a thin space if you can. Comma goes inside the ending quote because a title of a work is being referenced, correct? No commas, I say. Lou, there are a couple of issues and options here. Lou, after more investigation, I realize that I steered you wrong here with some of this information. The article is finally up— replacing commas with question marks. I think it should provide the info you need. With that admittance, I have another question about the following sentence:.

But his emptiness was so pervasive, he gave the muse idea serious consideration when he looked at his latest pieces—uninspired, apathetic, lifeless. My confusion lies in the use of simple past vs an infinitive.

Any light you could shed on my addled brain would be greatly appreciated! Thanks, Beth! The first option is more a statement of fact. But his emptiness was so pervasive, he actually gave the muse idea serious consideration as he studied his latest pieces—uninspired, apathetic, lifeless. But his emptiness was so pervasive, he had to give the muse idea serious consideration after he evaluated his latest pieces—uninspired, apathetic, lifeless.

Hi what about names of buildings, but I have made up the names. This is for a building project brochure. These names are used many times throughout the brochure. Italics, quotes? Or quote it once and then every other time just plain caps?

Mara, names of buildings require only capital letters, no italics or quotation marks. None of the top-gun style guide address these. What is the technically correct capitalization rule for each, please? If not, how would you punctuate this exact sentence? A Happy Anniversary to the both of you. Happy Birthday, Michael! Have a Happy Birthday, Michael! Names of holidays religious and secular are capitalized.

The words happy, merry, birthday, and anniversary are not capped in running text although we often capitalize such words in headings. Have a merry Christmas and a happy New Year. But—I hope the new year is a happy one for you. I hope you have a great new year. No caps here. This is referring to the year, not to the holiday.

I guess this calls for a full article. Thanks for the tip. This blog of yours is just unbelievably great! Am I dreaming?? This site is better than the top style guides, and I mean that. Great, great work. You should be very proud!!! Thanks so much for this post, I am currently studying for a Graduate Certificate in Editing and Publishing and found this immensely helpful!

You said in your post that for songs, the CD or album title would be in italics and the song names would be in quotation marks. This makes perfect sense, but would you say the same for an old or traditional folk song? Would you say that the quotations marks are correct here? Should they be italicised instead?

Erin, stay with quotation marks for songs, even folk songs. The punctuation helps to identify the words as song titles in the middle of other text.

Could this work, or is it a no-no? PS This is the greatest reference source available anywhere on the Net or in any bookstore! You are to be commended! Awesome, awesome, awesome site! But there are already allowances, so why not include this one? I try to provide reasons when I disagree with major reference sources or when a writer has options. So if I were to use PS, is there any punctuation i.

PS Keep up the great work! PS: Keep up the great work! Keep up the great work! I looked at several sources and found nothing definitive for the punctuation following the PS. A period or a colon should be acceptable. And both options were given as options from the Gregg Reference Manual in one resource I found. Text, text, text in their answers. Admittedly, those answers may be older, from the days before P.

But you should be fine with the period or the colon following PS. Or you could revert to P. For italics i , bold b , or underline u , bracket your text as follows, omitting the space after the first bracket of each pair—. If you had to italicize the place names, as I did here, italicize the word the in names that capitalize the the.

My latest thought is that Chicago 7. It says that proper nouns used as words are usually set in roman as opposed to words used as words, which are italicized or enclosed in quotation marks. What do you think? Maybe quotation marks if the wording was different, if the sentence included said or write. Like you, I go back and forth with the options. But sometimes the rest of the sentence guides the choice.

Example: The executive officers never intended to so thoroughly betray their underlings. Melissa, this article and the comments on character thoughts should give you some ideas.

Do italicize the names of specific Disney attractions? A great question, Brianna. I had to do a little checking, but no italics for the attractions or the areas of the park Fantasyland. Just capitalize the names of the attractions. If you refer to a movie or book title on which a ride is based, be sure to use italics for the movie or book reference.

Nicky, definitely capitalize them, both the names of the shows and the names of the episodes. Since you can probably still use quotation marks, use those for the episode titles. You might have to go with only caps for the show titles. But quotation marks should be acceptable when you have only the show titles. No quotation marks or italics are necessary for either.

Is the scouring of scones a known historical event in your story world or is this wording just a casual way some characters refer to the event? CMOS 16 8. You may simply have to make a decision. But not all big events are capitalized. If the event was written the Great Scone Scourge? You might want to cap that. We do, after all, capitalize the Black Death.

Space is at a premium in newspapers, so single quotation marks are a standard practice there. But either would work and be acceptable. You actually have options here.

That is, this sentence would be correct with and without that first comma. Comma use depends on the intended meaning. I see asking me to take her son as a nonessential phrase. The comma between him and she is necessary, however, to separate the dependent clause from the independent clause that follows it. Your example is closer to examples in CMOS that show run-in quotations section CMOS calls similar constructions a syntactical part of the sentence.

As for the capital letter, CH shows a capital letter in their example. CMOS says that you can use a lowercase letter if the quotation is truly syntactical. Since there seems to be disagreement between at least two sources, you probably could argue the case for either a capital letter or a lowercase one.

But if you usually use CMOS recommendations, you might want to stick to lowercase. As for the quotation marks themselves, since it is a quote, use them. We can use italics for words used as words, so italics is an option. And I think that argument could be made. Oh, thank you so much! The more I searched, the more confused I became! You explained it so well, I actually understood your answer! Again, thank you!

The name of the app is Think Dirty. I have a question about ellipses in the middle of a sentence like this:. I put on one of those damn hats again, too worried about the drugs she took and who gave them to her.

Is an ellipsis the proper punctuation in that example? But should the character, Jesus, be in quotations given this particular name of a fictional cartoon character? I have a question for you. And though the lawyer is the one physically reading it to the niece I want the readers to get a sense of the aunt.

Like what they do in movies. When you see someone reading a letter or something from someone and instead of the readers voice, we hear the writers voice? Am i making sense? If I am including segments of newspaper articles or segments of legal documents in my genealogical research writing, do I, or can I, italicize it and set it off in the center of the page for clarity or emphasis?

Can you confirm this on your end? No recasts, please. Thank you for any help. The letter of the law makes for some pretty poor options for a few of these words. And of course, no italics needed with the use of the quotation marks. This is in CMOS 7. CMOS shows no italics for their example, just the plural phrase in quotation marks. Except, of course, if the whole word, the plural version, is in italics.

Aside from Chicago, I think these could work they are much clearer. The standard way to make plurals adding s or es works well. The apostrophe would likely cause too much confusion. I agree with CMOS 7.

Hi, Beth. Would this be correct, or should I keep it all in roman? Yet yours seems a straightforward conversation. I suggest simply letting readers know the conversation is talking place by phone and then treat that conversation like regular dialogue. Whether characters are face to face, in different rooms of a house, or talking by phone, if the reader gets to hear everything, this is normal dialogue.

Is the punctuation correct as is, and if I wanted to get rid of the em dashes, could I still use a question in the middle of the sentence? Cassie, the question inside the dashes works well.

But for fiction, stick with the dashes. Hi, thanks for this informative article. I have a question about signs. Jared, the Chicago Manual of Style recommends headline style for signs in running text—no quotation marks or italics. So that means capitalize first and last words and almost all words except for conjunctions, prepositions, and articles.

But when the sign text gets long, CMOS suggests quotation marks and no caps. For your example, keep it as is—capitalizing the three words. What a rich resource you have provided us with, Beth Hill!

I am having difficulty finding an answer to a specific question. Foreign language organization names: to italicize or not? In the work I am currently editing, the writer sometimes refers to a Spanish organization name, and often but not always she also provides the English translation or actual English version, when there is one in use.

My tendency is to start with the English and put the Spanish version next to it in brackets, italicised, and, if I only have the Spanish version, to simply italicize it. For example, where do the quotation marks go if I want to quote this? There are different schools of thought about years and decades. It might be best to place the quote in paragraph form instead of a vertical list. It was then said that I used them incorrectly. I was wondering if you could tell me if I used it correctly?

Therefore, your use of quotation marks is acceptable. You could also have placed the words friend and girlfriend in italics. What about underlining? If my fifth grade students are writing short stories, would they underline their work since they are writing them by hand? What about a list as in an order of service where there are song titles, Sermon titles, and general actions. Song titles and sermon titles are enclosed in quotation marks.

No italics or quotation marks are needed for general actions. Yes, the quotation marks should be used again. Since the word church might not be considered an unfamiliar or technical term, it could also be italicized instead of enclosed in quotation marks. I am editing a non-fiction, scientific type book, which includes many terms that I would could consider to be new, proprietary terms.

I have been trying to figure out whether to use quotation marks or italics since the author, being an ESL speaker, does not maintain consistent form. I see from the above conversations that if I use quotation marks, that I could technically drop them after the initial introduction of the term. However, as I get deeper into the book and having maintained that policy, I have come to a section that has applied italics rather than quotation marks for technical terms.

Also, the technical term that is using quotation marks goes on to have lengthy explanations which use the term repeatedly, to define and to then to give examples of its applications. My first reaction would be to use quotation marks on the initial use and then italicize the following placements within the initial paragraph, and then to drop the usage in the following text, as it should be assimilated and understood by then. I believe that this is how I have seen textbooks in the past use this technique.

Can you give me some clarity? We recommend that you choose a method of writing the proprietary terms and remain consistent throughout the book. Please see our August 24, , reply to Nori K. These words were not spoken exactly like that by Ann so they are not a precise quote, but I feel they need highlighting somehow. A colon is not necessary. While there are no established rules on this, we follow the practice of making links out of the website addresses for the convenience of the reader.

Since links are automatically underlined, we leave it at that. When we wish to give special emphasis to the link, we will make it bold. The subject line in an email does not allow italics, and using quotation marks in the subject of an email could result in the email being marked as spam. How does that work? Quotation marks? Although there is no formal rule that applies specifically to email subjects, we recommend using quotation marks rather than italics.

Single quotation marks are fine if it is a quotation within a quotation. An error here. Quotation marks are for just that — quotations! So, an extract from a book or poem. Title marks for want of a better phrase are used for, e.

As in this comment box! There are other uses for quotation marks besides quotations. Quotation marks are used for components, such as chapter titles in a book, individual episodes of a TV series, songs from a Broadway show or a music album, titles of articles or essays in print or online, and shorter works such as short stories and poems. We do not recommend the use of single quotation marks when italics are not available.

Quotation Marks? Ex- I am going to see Encore!. Period follows it? Are you going to Encore!? Question mark follows it??? These belong to Encore! All awkward…but what do you do??

Most editors would use quotation marks or italics for Encore! If it is a full-length show, italics are preferred. Here are some alternatives. OR … to Encore!

If you are quoting someone you observed, double quotation marks could be used as mentioned in our Rule 8a of Quotation Marks : Quotation marks are often used with technical terms, terms used in an unusual way, or other terms that vary from standard usage. I put colons so to not use more quotation marks unnecessarily.

Updating a procedure that is full of items bolded, italicized, and in quotation marks all three at once. I may have to simply go with quotation marks around anything that needs to be highlighted, as that is what people are used to using. I think using bold or italics alone would suffice and stand out better as an instruction. Using all three methods certainly seems like overkill.

We find it most effective to minimize these distractions. Use red font for Team One. The word the is not capitalized unless it begins a sentence. In writing about an exhibition of artwork, do I use italics for the title of the exhibition? Do I also use italics for the specific artworks in the exhibition? HMS is a ship prefix.

It is an initialism used mostly in front of the name of a ship of the British Royal Navy. I just read two books that do not use quotation marks for the characters speaking. Is this something new in publishing? Because it is mainly invention and imagination, fiction writing allows more liberty to break from certain grammatical conventions to achieve an authorial style and voice. Chuck Palahniuk, the author of popular novels such as Fight Club , is but one writer who often includes dialogue without quotation marks.

Nonfiction writing would rarely apply such usage. How would you style the title of a course that lasts several days at an independent institute? Is either the course name or the name of the institute italicized or in quotes?

While there are no particular rules we are aware of that apply to this situation, we would capitalize the formal name of the institute, and at least the first word of the course name. The name of a fictional character is usually written in standard type the same as any other name, without italics or quotation marks.

I am writing a work of fiction. In it, there is a condo building which is referred to several times by its name, The Peacock. Should the name of the building be in italics — once, every time it is mentioned?

Likewise with the name of museum that a character visits and then talks about afterwards. Should the name of the museum be in italics? Most product names do not require any kind of special treatment. Can italics and quotation marks both be used to express speech? Italics and quotation marks are generally used to set a composition title apart from the text surrounding it. For example, if you were writing the sentence, "I read The Cat in the Hat," it wouldn't necessarily be clear what the book title was, or even that there was a book title at all.

Breaking down whether you should use italics vs. In general, the rule is:. When in doubt, consider whether a piece can be broken into smaller pieces. If it can, such as a novel into chapters or an album into songs , use italics. Various style guides may vary a bit, but this rule is typically true in most publications. Each of the style guides have their own rules when it comes to formatting titles, although many overlap. AP is one of the simpler styles to remember, as it doesn't use italics in composition titles at all.

However, AP style guide mandates that you do not italicize any works, but place them in quotation marks instead. AP style is the exception again: all titles, including longer works, should be in quotation marks. However, AP style does not put titles of newspapers, magazines, or journals in quotation marks either plain text only. APA differs from other formats in that it doesn't use quotation marks or italics for titles of shorter works, such as essays that are in collections, lectures, or journal articles.