Common Confusions
Quotations, apostrophes, and more!
TCTC Writing Center
Prepared by Jennifer Higgins-Spiers
July 2007
Quotation Confusions….
 When
students write quotations, they tend
to believe that ALL quotes must go inside
quotation marks. This is not always true.
 Indirect quotes explain what was said or
described in written text, DIRECT quotes
are EXACT quotes from the person’s
mouth or written text.
 Only direct quotes need quotation marks.
Direct Quotes vs. Indirect Quotes

He said, “The Tigers will play against the
Gamecocks next week.” DIRECT QUOTE

He said that the Tigers will play against the
Gamecocks next week. INDIRECT QUOTE

According to Dr. Finnegan, “Results of the
experiments will vary depending on age and
weight.” DIRECT QUOTE

Dr. Finnegan explained that the results of the
experiments will vary depending on age and
weight. INDIRECT QUOTE
Incorrect Usage of Quotation Marks
 Mrs.
Donovan said that “Earth is located in
the Milky Way Galaxy.”
 The principal told us “that school safety
was our number one priority.”
 My mother said that “she was tired.”
 It has been said that “life is like a box of
chocolates.”
Punctuation and Capitalization
Inside Quotation Marks.



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Periods and commas ALWAYS
go inside the quotation marks.
First letters of the first words in
quotes are ALWAYS
capitalized. If you have a
SPLIT quote, the second part
of the quote does not always
need capitalization.
Question marks go inside the
quote only if the ? is part of the
quote.
Semicolons and colons go
outside the quotation marks.

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
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“Next week, we need to get our
visa for Kazakhstan,” Rob said.
Rob said, “Next week, we
need to get our visa for
Kazakhstan.”
“Next week,” he said, “we need
to get our visa for Kazakhstan.”
“Can you help me with this
physics problem?” Margo
asked.
Do you like the song “Blue
Suede Shoes”?
Bam Bam yelled, “Pebbles!
Come here!”; Pebbles
exclaimed, “Get away from
me!”
Apostrophe Confusions

Apostrophes are used in TWO ways:


To show possession
For contractions (combining a pronoun/verb or a verb/adverb
and sometimes two verbs)

You NEVER use the apostrophe to make a word plural.
 You NEVER use an apostrophe for a verb that ends in -s
Plural means more than one.
Possessive means ownership.
Contraction means combination.
Apostrophes for Contractions
They can’t be serious!
can + not (verb + adverb)
 Isn’t that lovely?
is + not (verb + adverb)
 She’s coming tomorrow.
she + is (pronoun + verb)
 Mark should’ve listened to him.
should+ have (verb + verb)
 You’ll have to wait.
you + will (pronoun + verb)
 Do you know when they’re coming?
they + are (pronoun + verb)

Plural vs. Possessive

They have so many dogs! Plural- NO
apostrophe
 The dog’s paw is sore. Possessive- NEEDS
apostrophe
 All students should go to the Writing Center.
Plural- NO apostrophe
 Students’ writing will improve! PossessiveNEEDS apostrophe
Note: The Difference between
Possessive Nouns and Pronouns
 You
use apostrophes for possessive
NOUNS only.
 Possessive pronouns are separate words
and NEVER need an apostrophe!
 REMEMBER: You NEVER use
apostrophes to make a noun or pronoun
plural!
Incorrect usage of apostrophes
bead’s are her’s.
 I want to buy five horse’s for our barn.
 She never use’s apostrophe’s correctly!
 I know his’ family.
 Today, I bought egg’s, potato’s, chip’s
and pickle’s.
 Those
This is BAD! DON’T DO IT!
When Apostrophes Are Tricky…
 Most
of the time, when you indicate
possession in a noun, the apostrophe
comes BEFORE the –s.
 Apostrophes, however, are complicated.
They like to confuse you.
 Sometimes you need to put the
apostrophe AFTER the –s in order to
make your possessive noun correct.
WHY? WHY? WHY?

Remember: Nouns are both SINGULAR and
PLURAL.
 When the apostrophe comes BEFORE the –s,
the noun is SINGULAR and the possession
deals with that ONE noun ONLY.
 When the apostrophe comes AFTER the –s, the
noun is PLURAL and the possession deals with
the plural noun.
 A good rule to follow with plural possessives is to
make the noun plural and then make it
possessive.
Examples of the Plural Possessive
 The
governments’ leaders will have a big
summit next week. (More than one leader
of more than one government).
 The kittens’ mother is too tired to
play.(ONE mother to more than one kitten).
 Jessica stayed the night at her parents’
house. (She has more than one parent
living in one house).
Grammatical Confusions
 There
are some grammatical structures
that are incorrectly mistaken for
grammatical errors:



Passive voice
Multiple commas
Numbers
Passive Voice

When you are writing, MS Word picks up on some
grammatical structures. Many times, if you write a
sentence in passive voice, MS Word will “tell you.”
 While MS word underlines the sentence, it is often
mistaken as an error. Passive voice sentences are
GRAMMTICALLY CORRECT; you just want to limit
yourself on the number of passive voice sentences.
 Passive voice, if overused, creates confusion to the
reader. Otherwise, it is perfectly OK to use it. There may
be better ways to write the sentence, but it is not
incorrect.
 Sometimes you MUST write a sentence in passive voice,
depending on the context of your paragraph. Be sure
that you are clear.
Examples of Passive Voice
Sentences
Passive Voice
Active Voice
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The tantrum was thrown by
my brother.
It has been said: if you can’t
stand the heat, stay out of
the kitchen.
The cookies were engulfed
by the Cookie Monster.
The flowers were planted.
We have been told to never
talk to strangers.
CSI has been watched for a
long time.
Remember: all of these passive voice
sentences are grammatically correct; just
make sure you avoid using this too often.




My brother threw a tantrum.
“If you can’t stand the heat,
stay out of the kitchen” is a
famous quote.
The Cookie Monster
engulfed the cookies.
Jamie and Ashley planted
the flowers.
Our parents told us to never
talk to strangers.
People have watched CSI
for a long time.
Multiple Commas

Sometimes we write COMPLICATED sentences!
When we do this, we may need to use more
than one comma in a sentence.
 Students are often wary about using commas
since they tend to get themselves in trouble
using so many commas.
 If you know your comma rules and FOLLOW
THEM, you will find that your commas, even if
you have a bunch of them in one sentence, are
correct.
 Remember: a comma splice happens ONLY
when a comma joins two independent clauses.
Examples of Sentences with
Multiple Commas

A long time ago, a large lightning bolt hit that
tree, and when the tree fell, it damaged our roof.
 They tried to get home, but since the water level
rose so quickly, they were stuck on the
interstate.
 Last week, even though it was a cold, cloudy
day, I got a lot of work done in my yard, and I
was able to clean my entire house, too.
 After three long years, Persephone, a senior
who worked five part-time jobs, was finally able
to save enough money to study in St.
Petersburg.
Numbers
Here is the rule:
 You spell out numbers between zero and nine,
 You write any number 10 and above.
Exceptions to the rule:
 If you have a number as the first word in your
sentence, you need to spell it out.
 If you have a sentence with multiple numbers,
and some of them include numbers beyond 10,
you can write out all numbers
Examples of Sentences with
Numbers
 Zoey
needs to grow three more inches
before she can ride the roller coaster.
 I haven’t seen her in 15 years!
 He is 12, his brother is 6, and his sister is
9.
 Seventeen years ago, she was convicted
of blatant plagiarism, and now she is
finally getting out of jail.
You’re finished!
 Hopefully
you are not more confused
about these issues than you were before
you began this presentation!