English Language & Usage Asked on May 24, 2021
I’ve been under the impression that you use single quotation marks for single characters or numerals.
Usage: ‘1’ or ‘a’ and not “1” or “a”.
(You would double quotation marks for anything longer than one character.)
Is this a correct assumption?
Note: I’m aware that there are topics that discuss the usage of both single and double quotation marks, but my question is intended to be a specific as possible as it may benefit others here.
No it is not.
I believe you probably got that impression, directly or indirectly, from the programming language C, which does in fact have that as a rule. However, human languages are not programming languages. We don't really have an overwhelming need as people to differentiate a single letter from a string that happens to have only a single character in it.
Correct answer by T.E.D. on May 24, 2021
In the U.S. (at least according to the Chicago Manual of Style), the only thing you're supposed to use single quotes for is quotations within quotations. This strikes me as a grievous underuse of a potentially useful punctuation mark. I would be interested in knowing what the British system is.
Grammar Girl has a nice article on this question.
Answered by Peter Shor on May 24, 2021
The answer is the reverse of that mentioned of the "Chicago Manual of Style". Double quotes are to be used for using text from a document or exactly what was said. In both cases the text is drawn from a secondary source, which is always to be cited. Also double quotes are to be used for the formal title of a work or document. A title of a work or document can also be expressed by underlining, italicizing or bolding of the text. The last 3 are per the capabilities of a given word processor. The double quote form is universal. [see MLA Style Guide] Single quotes are then the default for all other purposes. i.e. what could/should/might have been said, labels and terms, which then would address the original question of single letters or digits.
Answered by Viktor Karlsohn on May 24, 2021
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