Meaning of inverted comma | Babel Free

Definitions

A type of paired quotation mark: ‘ or “ (beginning the quoted material) and ’ or ” (ending it).

Commonwealth, plural-normally

Examples

“The paſſage quoted in the text is at the latter part of the following letter, and is put between inverted commas.”

“Some of the papers, with questionable taste, present Mrs. [Alice Roosevelt] Longworth to their readers as the American “Princess.” There is nothing in her ways, bearing, or appearance to warrant the epithet which I give, as printed, in inverted commas.”

“The following paradigm will serve to illustrate what we mean by this term: (37) (a) ‘Will I get a degree?ʼ John wondered (37) (b) John wondered whether he would get a degree (37) (c) John wondered would he get a degree The italicised sequence in (37) (a) is said to be an instance of direct speech: John's exact words are recorded verbatim, and are bounded in the spelling by a question mark and inverted commas; points to note here include the use of the present tense Auxiliary will, the inversion of the Auxiliary, and the use of the first person pronoun I to represent the speaker.”

CEFR level