Quotes are able to decorate the text, confirming or expanding the idea expressed by the author, therefore, probably, they are willingly used both in journalism and in scientific works. But sometimes introducing a quote into the text can cause difficulties in terms of punctuation.
In this article we will try to remember the rules for quoting in different ways to include them in the text. Let's remember what punctuation marks you need to use in this case, as well as ways to highlight some words in the quoted passage.
What is a quote: example
A quote is a verbatim reproduction of what was said, while inextricably linked in meaning with the text where this passage is included.
Older age is, first of all, the experience accumulated throughout life. As the great Faina Ranevskaya once said: “Memories are the we alth of old age.”
Combining several passages from different places in a work in one quote is not allowed. They should be formatted as different quotations. A mandatory requirement is the presence of an indication of its source.
If the passage you cite does not begin at the beginning of the original sentence, then an ellipsis is put there in the quote. In place of all missing words in the passage, this sign is also put.
"… A smart person knows how to get out of a difficult situation, but a wise person never gets into it," Ranevskaya emphasized.
As indicated by the author or source of the quoted passage
We will not talk about how a bibliographic footnote is formatted in this article, but we will discuss the ways in which the author or source of the cited is indicated. Good manners require you to do this every time you use someone else's thought.
So, if you want to put a link to a source or a mention of the author's name immediately after a quote, then it is customary to put them in brackets.
"Incompetent people tend to draw unequivocal and categorical conclusions" (David Dunning).
Please note that the point after the quote in this version is not put, it is put only after the link! By the way, if the first word in brackets indicating the source is not a proper name, then it is written with a small letter.
"Incompetent people tend to draw unequivocal and categorical conclusions" (from an article by psychologist David Dunning).
If the design of quotations in the text requires the author's name or theirsource to another line, they are already written without brackets and other punctuation marks. And after the quote itself, a period or any necessary sign is put.
Incompetent people tend to draw unambiguous and categorical conclusions.
David Dunning
The same rule applies to epigraphs.
Highlights within quotes
If there are author's highlights in the passage given as a quotation, they are kept in the same form as in the original source. The design of citations does not require special emphasis that these marks belong to the author. In cases where the citing person wants to highlight something, he must make a corresponding footnote. To do this, indicate in brackets: “my italics” or “highlighted by me” - and put initials.
A. Startsev said about the writer O. Henry: “Endowed by nature with a rare gift to see the merry…, he faced the tragic in life…, but in most cases he preferred to remain silent about it (my italics – I. I.).”
The author also puts initials in the case when there is a need to additionally introduce explanations in the quote.
“The literary tradition that connected their names (Gogol and Ostrovsky - I. I.) is significant. After all, Ostrovsky was at first perceived as a direct successor to the work of Gogol …"
The ways in which quotes are put into context
Quotes can be entered into a sentence as direct speech. In these cases, punctuation marks in Russian are placed in the same way as when highlighting direct speech.
I. Zakharovemphasizes: “Ranevskaya gave others cruel definitions, resembling decisions of the courts. But she did not spare herself either.”
In cases where the quote should be separated by the words of the author, it looks like this:
“His Majesty remains completely confident,” wrote A. S. Pushkin A. Kh. Benckendorff, - that you will use your excellent abilities to pass on the glory of our Fatherland to the offspring …"
If the quotation is an addition, or it is included in the subordinate clause of a complex sentence, then no signs other than quotation marks are put, and the quotation itself begins with a small letter, even if it was written with a capital letter in the source:
At one time, the philosopher J. Locke said that “there is nothing in the intellect that is not in the feeling.”
Punctuation at the end of a quote
Separately, you need to consider the design of a quote in a letter in situations where you need to decide on punctuation marks at the end of it - before and after quotes.
If the quoted phrase ends with an ellipsis, a question mark or an exclamation mark, then they are placed before quotes:
Katherine Hepburn exclaimed: “By obeying all the rules, you deprive yourself of many pleasures!”
And in a situation where there are no signs before the quotation marks in the quote, a period is put at the end of the sentence, but only after them:
Ranevskaya lamented: “85 years with diabetes is not sugar.”
If the quote is part of a subordinate clause, then a dot should be put after the quotes, even if they already have either an exclamation mark orquestion mark or ellipsis:
Marlene Dietrich rightly believed that “tenderness is the best proof of love than the most passionate vows…”.
Lower or capital letter at the beginning of a quote?
If a quote is placed after a colon, then you need to pay attention to what letter it began with in the original source. If with a lowercase letter, then the quote is written with a small one, only an ellipsis is placed before the text:
Describing A. S. Pushkin, I. A. Goncharov emphasized: “… in the gestures accompanying his speech, there was a restraint of a secular, well-bred person.”
If the cited passage begins with a capital letter, then the citations are formatted in the same way as in direct speech - with a capital letter after the colon.
B. Lakshin wrote about A. N. Ostrovsky: “A lot continues to sound in these plays with live joy and pain, echoing in our soul.”
Some more nuances of citations
And how to designate a quote if you need to quote only one word or phrase? In such cases, the given word is enclosed in quotation marks and entered in a sentence with a small letter:
B. Lakshin emphasized that the faces in Ostrovsky's comedies are historically accurate and "ethnographically vivid."
In situations where the original source of the quote is not freely available (there is no translation into Russian or this is a rare edition), then when quoting, you should indicate: “cit. by.”
Is it possible to change something in the quotedexcerpt
Formatting quotes requires not only observing the rules of punctuation, but also the correct attitude to the quoted text. On the part of the author of the article in which these passages are cited, only a few deviations from their original state are allowed:
- the use of modern spelling and punctuation, if the style of writing and placement of signs is not a sign of the individual style of the author;
- restoration of abbreviated words, but with the obligatory conclusion of the added part in square brackets, for example, sv-in - sv[oyst] in;
- The design of quotes also allows the omission of individual words in them, with an ellipsis indicating the place of the omission, if this does not distort the general meaning of the quoted passage;
- when including individual phrases or words, you can change their case so as not to violate the syntactic structure of the phrase in which they are included.
If the author needs to additionally express his attitude to the quoted passage or to some of its words, he, as a rule, puts a question or exclamation mark enclosed in parentheses after them.
Not only punctuation marks in Russian should serve to convey quotes
For an author writing a scientific or literary work, a quotation is a convincing and economical technique that allows you to present facts to the reader, generalize them and, of course, confirm your idea with reference to authoritative sources.
In non-scientific texts, a quote is often a means of emotional impact. But we must not forget that the giventhe passage must be transmitted accurately. After all, even in the definition of the concept of "quote" it is emphasized that this is a verbatim passage from a text. And from this it follows that not only the text itself, but also the punctuation marks that the author has, as well as the selections that he has, must be reproduced without distortion.
And this can equally be attributed to both official documents and emotional excerpts from fiction. Only by remembering this, one can fully understand what a quotation is. An example of a careful attitude to the quoted material is, first of all, respect for the author who wrote the lines you quote.
