ChanteSez … You can quote me

Quote marks, or quotation marks, are typically used to indicate what a person has said. Most people understand that part. It’s the punctuation used with quote marks that can be confusing.

As a rule of thumb, quote everything, including the punctuation. In other words, put punctuation inside the quote marks. A few examples:

  • Felabration is one of Atlanta’s most highly anticipated parties,” she said.
  • “How in the world is he able to dance like that?” she asked.
  • “That is going to be one awesome pumpkin carving party!” she exclaimed.

ChanteSez … Snap to it!

One of the most common mistakes ChanteSeez (hee hee) is the contraction form of “it is” — it’s — used as a possessive pronoun (its).

Contractions take two words and make them one. Other contractions include “that’s” (that is), “we’re” (we are) and “what’s” (what is).

Consider the apostrophe a snap. Add an apostrophe whenever you want to “snap” two words together.

Even with this tip, the only way to truly avoid this mistake is to re-read your writing. Then ask yourself if you meant the “snap” version of “it is,” or its (see!) possessive pronoun sibling.