inverted comma

English

Etymology

From the appearance of an apostrophe as a raised or "inverted" comma.

Noun

inverted comma (plural inverted commas)

(Britain) A type of quotation mark, denoted by ‘ (beginning the quoted material) or ’ (ending it). Often used instead of "inverted commas", which also means a "double style" inverted comma, denoted by “ or ”, in the United Kingdom.
- 1988, Andrew Radford, chapter 6, in Transformational grammar: a first course, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, page 299:
  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.

Usage notes

A "single style" inverted comma is typically used in the UK instead of the "double style" "inverted commas":
- She said, ‘Yes, that would be lovely.’ is often used instead of She said, “Yes, that would be lovely.”
The plural is ambiguous, since "inverted commas" may refer either to two or more of inverted comma, or to a "double style" inverted comma, as in She said, “Yes, that would be fine.” However, the latter meaning is usually assumed.
A "single quote", or ', similar to an inverted comma, is sometimes used in North America, especially when inside a passage that is already in the more usual "double quotes" quotation marks:
- She said, "Yes, that would be 'fabulous', I'll see you then."

Hypernyms

comma

Hyponyms

close inverted comma
close inverted commas
double quotes
open inverted comma
open inverted commas
single quote

单词	inverted comma
释义	inverted comma English Etymology From the appearance of an apostrophe as a raised or "inverted" comma. Noun inverted comma (plural inverted commas) (Britain) A type of quotation mark, denoted by ‘ (beginning the quoted material) or ’ (ending it). Often used instead of "inverted commas", which also means a "double style" inverted comma, denoted by “ or ”, in the United Kingdom. 1988, Andrew Radford, chapter 6, in Transformational grammar: a first course, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, page 299: 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. Usage notes A "single style" inverted comma is typically used in the UK instead of the "double style" "inverted commas": She said, ‘Yes, that would be lovely.’ is often used instead of She said, “Yes, that would be lovely.” The plural is ambiguous, since "inverted commas" may refer either to two or more of inverted comma, or to a "double style" inverted comma, as in She said, “Yes, that would be fine.” However, the latter meaning is usually assumed. A "single quote", or ', similar to an inverted comma, is sometimes used in North America, especially when inside a passage that is already in the more usual "double quotes" quotation marks: She said, "Yes, that would be 'fabulous', I'll see you then." Hypernyms comma Hyponyms close inverted comma close inverted commas double quotes open inverted comma open inverted commas single quote
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