How do you end with a single quote followed by a double quote?

Question

I have a paragraph as follows:

``This is a quote. `Here is a quote within a quote.'''

But the formatting works out to be a double quote (") followed by a single quote (') instead of the other way around. How can I solve this problem?

Related: [Why do ``` and ''' produce outputs with different spaces?](http://tex.stackexchange.com/q/62127/5764) — Werner, Sep 25 '12 at 04:32

score 31 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 25 '12 at 04:27

31

You have the following options:

enter image description here

Outer double, inner single: ``\thinspace`\ \ldots\ '\thinspace'' \par
Outer single, inner double: `\thinspace``\ \ldots\ ''\thinspace'

The TeX Book mentions (Chapter 2: Book Printing versus Ordinary Typing, p 5): "There's usually less space preceding a single left quote than there is preceding a double left quote. (Left and right are opposites.)"

So, in your instance,

``This is a quote. `Here is a quote within a quote.'\thinspace''

enter image description here

answered Sep 25 '12 at 04:27

Werner

603,163

6

Would \`{}`Foo'{}''` be an option as well? It's kinda hard to tell, but the spaces do differ a bit between the "black marks" in the output. Considering you're quoting Knuth's recommendation, it doesn't seem to be what was intended by the inventor. – doncherry Sep 25 '12 at 04:48
@doncherry: To me the distinction is too minimal. However, I can see that it could be a user-preference as well. – Werner Sep 25 '12 at 05:22

score 19 · Answer 2 · edited Sep 27 '12 at 17:14

19

The csquotes package might be helpful.

For nested quotings just nest \enquote{} like this:

\documentclass[english]{article}
\usepackage{csquotes}

\begin{document}
\enquote{outer and \enquote{inner}}
\end{document}

nested enquotes (en)

It is also very useful for non-english quotation marks:

\documentclass[naustrian,german]{article}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage{babel}
\usepackage[babel]{csquotes}

\begin{document}
\enquote{außen und \enquote{innen}}
\end{document}

nested enquotes (de)

edited Sep 27 '12 at 17:14

doncherry

54,637

answered Sep 25 '12 at 09:49

fheub

816

3

+1, but German punctuation would prescribe \enquote{innen}.}, perhaps even \enquote{innen}}.. (On a side note: Why not use the minimal class) – doncherry Sep 26 '12 at 18:37
@doncherry Thank you for your hints: I edited my answer accordingly. – fheub Sep 27 '12 at 15:13
Thank you for your hints: I edited my answer accordingly but not the result image, which confused me for a moment :-) – Daniel Nov 15 '12 at 14:41

score 6 · Answer 3 · answered Sep 27 '12 at 15:26

6

\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
``` '''     % misinterpretation by (La)TeX
``{}` '{}'' % good interpretation (but bad spaces) 
\end{document}

answered Sep 27 '12 at 15:26

Paul Gaborit

70,770
10
176
283

score 4 · Answer 4 · answered Mar 13 '18 at 23:24

4

An alternative solution is use the \, command. It'll give you an output similar to the method using \thinspace.

Example:

``This is a quote \,`Here is a quote within a a quote.'\,''

answered Mar 13 '18 at 23:24

Michael Kiros

141

Welcome to TeX.SE! In fact, \, is defined exactly as \thinspace if not in math mode. And it's convenient to type, and the LaTeX documentation gives a similar example. – ShreevatsaR Mar 13 '18 at 23:34
The example given is: \`,`Foo', he said.''` – ShreevatsaR Mar 13 '18 at 23:42

How do you end with a single quote followed by a double quote?

4 Answers4

Linked

Related