What are some examples for using quotation marks?

Quotation marks are used to indicate that particular phrases are quoted directly, are part of spoken language or are being related word-for-word. They are also used to denote the titles of articles, poems, short stories or novellas. More infrequently, quotation marks may be used to enclose a phrase that has been translated from another language, to emphasize the fact that doubt should be cast upon a particular word or assertion or to denote a measurement taken in inches.

Written quotations are often separated from the remainder of the text by a comma or a colon. This is an example of a common quotation structure: The man said, "This is a quotation." The punctuation mark that ends the quotation precedes the final quotation mark.

Quotation marks that emphasize doubt or cast aspersions on a phrase are called "scare quotes." For example, a poorly executed and unscientific survey may be identified by a skeptical author as a "survey" within his or her article or book.

Quotation marks are also used to separate a person's nickname that appears in the middle of their proper name in a piece of writing. For example, George Herman "Babe" Ruth would be the full stylized name of the 20th century baseball star.