When to your " and when to use ' Quotation marks?

Question

I have never figured this out... when do I use the
' and " symbols.

what's the difference between them ( " &' )

Answer 1

British and American usage differ.

Americans use the double quotation marks whenever they wish to quote the exact words of a speaker (or writer). They use the single quotation marks when that speaker is quoting someone else.

The British do it in exactly the opposite way--normally, they use single quotation marks, but they use double quotation marks for a quote inside a quote.

Quotation marks (follow the same American/British guidelines) are also used to name short stories.

EXAMPLE: George W. Bush said, "We'll send another 20,000 troops to Iraq." (quoted in an American newspaper)

John Major said, 'We will withdraw from Iraq but increase our participation in Afghanistan.' (quoted in a British paper)

John said, "My favorite short story is 'The Death of Ivan Illych' by Leo Tolstoy."

If you want to read some extreme examples of this, check out Sherlock Holmes. Watson likes to quote Sherlock's second-hand accounts of hearsay evidence provided by witness and clients, so Conan Doyle ends up with about four sets of quotes.

Answer 2

' is for contractions such as don't or won't, instead of saying do not, or will not. quotation marks are the double version of that symbol and used for actual quotes, such as my favorite from abe lincoln, " men with few vices often have few virtues".

Answer 3

" " are used when you're quoting someone who's talking. ' ' are used when you are not quoting anybody.

For example: "Sally likes your shirt," said Billy. <--this is how you use the " ".

If you're writing a personal essay, for example, you might use the ' ' like this: My favorite rock star and I are 'related'; I have friends who have friends who know her.