Luton Borough Council

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Inverted commas
Use double inverted commas to show direct speech.

Otherwise, use single inverted commas. The full stop comes inside the inverted comma/s when what is inside is a full sentence. The full stop comes outside the inverted comma/s when what is inside is not a full sentence.

For example: The policeman said: “You were driving far too quickly.”

Use single quotation marks when a quotation appears within a quotation:

She said: “Don’t say ‘I know what you mean,’ you have no idea.”

Use single inverted commas when quoting from a report, quoting a title of a book, play or film or when referring to a particular letter.

I have just finished reading 'Catch 22’.
‘Star Wars’ was great.
The letter ‘m’ refers to meeting.

Italics

Do not use italics as they are difficult to read, as it’s hard to recognise word shapes if all the letters are set at an angle.

Also see emphasis.

Download a copy of our style guide