引号包括双引号和单引号，它们是用来表示直接引语或强调给定的单词或短语的标点符号。关于引号的使用，有许多容易忽视的规则。常见的错误包括引号内是否使用大写字母、引号内套用引号，以及引号与其他标点符号之间的关系。
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什么时候使用引号
引号的主要用途是表示直接引述。直接引述是指对某人所说的话进行逐字原样引用。这个人可以是一个当下的人，也可以是一个历史人物。
- Example
- Einstein once said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.”
- Example
- Socrates put it best: “The unexamined life is not worth living.”
然而，引号也可以用于标记虚构人物的讲话或想法。
- Example
- “I don’t feel very much like Pooh today,” said Pooh.
- Example
- “I wonder what Piglet is doing,” thought Pooh.
切入式引用（run-in quotations）和整段引用（block quotations）
文字引用分为以下两种方式：（1）切入式引用；（2）整段引用。切入式引用通常较短，并通过引号与前后文字区分开。
- Example
- Our boss said, “The interns will proof every brief twice.”
- Example
- The paper will be on Kant’s Categorical Imperative: “Act in such a way that you treat humanity, whether in your own person in the person of any other, never merely as a means to an end, but always at the same time as an end.”
相比之下，整段引用（block quotation）则比较长。另外，整段引用的内容与前后文字之间不是用引号区分开的，而是用不同的格式来区分。尽管在不同的格式规则中，整段引用的具体格式有所不同，但是有以下几条相同的原则，即整段引用应当：
- 1.
- 另起一行开始引用；
- 2.
- 把引用的内容向右缩进，使得引用的内容看上去与普通段落的格式有所不同；
- 3.
- 不要用引号把引用的内容括起来。
- Example
- Kafka’s Metamorphosis is frequently cited as an example of absurdism. It is famous for its opening paragraph:As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect. He was lying on his hard, as it were armor-plated, black and when he lifted his head a little he could see his domelike brown belly divided into stiff arched segments on top of which the bed quilt could hardly keep in position and was about to slide off completely. His numerous legs, which were pitifully thin compared to the rest of his bulk, waved helplessly before his eyes.
引号的使用规则
引号的使用有以下几条规则。有些规则显而易见，例如，引号应该成对使用，并且每对引号中的每一个引号都应该面对另一个引号对应着括起来。
- Incorrect
- Einstein once said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.
- Incorrect
- Einstein once said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.“
- Correct
- Einstein once said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.”
然而，引号在与其他标点符号的联合使用上也确实有一些不太明确的规定，例如被引用的部分是否应该大写，以及在引号内套用引号时应当如何标记双引号或单引号。
与其他标点符号联合使用的引号
一个常见的问题是引号应该如何与其他标点符号一起使用。例如，如果一个句子以句号结尾，结束引用内容的引号应该放在句号里面还是外面？
在美式英语和英式英语中，引号和其他标点符号的联用规则是不同的。然而，在这两种英语中，不属于引用文字部分并前置于引用文字部分的标点符号总是应当出现在第一个引号之前，即出现在带引号的引用部分之外。
- Incorrect
- According to Socrates “, An unexamined life is not worth living.”
- Correct
- According to Socrates, “An unexamined life is not worth living.”
根据标点符号的类型不同，句子结尾的标点符号与引号之间的位置关系各有不同。
1. 句号和逗号总是应当放在引号内。
- Incorrect
- “I don’t feel very much like Pooh today”, said Pooh.
- Correct
- “I don’t feel very much like Pooh today,” said Pooh.
- Incorrect
- Einstein once said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge”.
- Correct
- Einstein once said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.”
2. 冒号和分号总是应当放在引号外。
- Incorrect
- The boss told the interns to “proof the Spector briefs:” a stack of documents tall enough to bury a small child.
- Correct
- The boss told the interns to “proof the Spector briefs”: a stack of documents tall enough to bury a small child.
- Incorrect
- Our boss said, “The interns will proof every brief twice;” she wanted to be sure that the briefs were free of any inconsistencies.
- Correct
- Our boss said, “The interns will proof every brief twice”; she wanted to be sure that the briefs were free of any inconsistencies.
3. 如果问号和感叹号属于引用内容的一部分，则应当放在引号内。否则，它们应当放在引号外。
- Incorrect
- She shouted, “I’m so excited”!
- Correct
- She shouted, “I’m so excited!”
- Incorrect
- Why do you roll your eyes every time I say, “Please do the dishes?”
- Correct
- Why do you roll your eyes every time I say, “Please do the dishes”?
引用和大写
另一个常见的引用格式错误与大写字母有关。
1. 如果引语是一个完整的句子，第一个字母则必须大写。
- Incorrect
- According to Socrates, “an unexamined life is not worth living.”
- Correct
- According to Socrates, “An unexamined life is not worth living.”
2. 但是，如果引语不是一个完整的句子，第一个字母则不应该大写。
- Incorrect
- The boss told the interns to “Proof the Spector briefs.”
- Correct
- The boss told the interns to “proof the Spector briefs.”
引用中嵌入引用
引号内引用的内容如果出现嵌入的引用内容，则嵌入内容须用单引号标记。这是因为如果在内外两层引用内容均使用双引号，将非常令人迷惑和难以分辨。
- Incorrect
- “It is important to self-reflect,” said Lana. “In the words of Socrates, “An unexamined life is not worth living.””
- Correct
- “It is important to self-reflect,” said Lana. “In the words of Socrates, ‘An unexamined life is not worth living.’”
标题中使用引号和强调式引号
引号的另一个用途是表示强调。引号可以用来强调较短的作品标题，例如一篇文章或一本书的章节的标题。
- Example
- The first chapter of Harry Potter is “The Boy Who Lived.”
引号也可以用来表示一个词是通过它的字面内容来被评论，而不是表达它的普通含义。
- Example
- According to Merriam-Webster, a “book” is a set of written sheets of skin or paper or tablets of wood or ivory.
引号的另一个常用用途是引起注意或怀疑。用于这种目的的引号称为强调式引号（scare quotes）。它们的作用是让读者质疑引号所括起来的单词、术语或短语的合理性。比较下面两个句子，体会它们之间的区别。
- 不使用强调式引号
- The class is optional.
- 使用强调式引号
- The class is “optional.”
上面第一句话表明你可以选择不去上课，没有任何问题。然而，第二句话表明，虽然理论上你可以选择不去上这门课，但不去上这门课实际上会有一些负面后果。换言之，这门课虽然号称是选择性的，但实际上或多或少是非常关键的。
单引号
除了用在双引号内表示内嵌的引用内容外，单引号还有其他一些用途。在学术写作中，专门针对某一特定学科的技术术语经常被标上单引号。虽然这种做法没有被认为是一种规定，但在某些学科中被视为一种标准做法，例如哲学和神学。这些学科有一些在日常语言中常见的技术术语。
- Example
- Much of moral philosophy has been concerned with defining the meaning of ‘goodness’.
单引号也经常用来标记新闻标题中的引文。
- Example
- Drug companies ‘put profits over lives’.
最后，需要注意的是，单引号可以代替括号对前述文字进行翻译。
- Example
- He said Entschuldigung, or ‘excuse me’, when he bumped into her.
美式英语和英式英语在使用引号时的异同点
这篇文章中详述的规则是针对美式英语的。这些规则中的大多数也适用于英式英语。但是，这两种英语在引号的使用上有以下三个重要区别。
1. 英式英语喜欢使用单引号，即使是在直接引用话语时。
- Example
- Einstein once said, ‘Imagination is more important than knowledge’.
2. 对于引号内嵌入的引号，英式英语是使用单引号来标记外层引用内容，而使用双引号来标记内层嵌入的引用内容。这种做法刚好与美式英语相反。
- Example
- ‘It is important to self-reflect’, said Lana. ‘In the words of Socrates, “An unexamined life is not worth living.”’
3. 在英式英语中，标点符号总是被放在引号之外，除非这个标点符号是原引语的一部分。
- Example
- The boss told the interns to ‘proof the Spector briefs’.