Editing Quotation marks in English (section)

=== Typing quotation marks on a computer keyboard ===
Standard English computer keyboard layouts inherited the single and double straight quotation marks from the typewriter (the single quotation mark also doubling as an [[apostrophe]]), and they do not include individual keys for left-handed and right-handed typographic quotation marks. In [[character encoding]] terms, these [[character (computing)|characters]] are labeled ''[[wikt:unidirectional|unidirectional]]''. However, most computer text-editing programs provide a "smart quotes" feature to automatically convert straight quotation marks into bidirectional punctuation, though sometimes imperfectly {{crossref|(see {{section link||Smart_quotes}})}}. Generally, this smart quote feature is enabled by default, and it can be turned off in an "options" or "preferences" [[dialog box|dialog]]. Some websites do not allow typographic quotation marks or apostrophes in posts. One can skirt these limitations, however, by using the HTML character codes or entities<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/sgml/entities.html#h-24.2 |title=Character entity references in HTML 4 |work=W3.org |publisher=[[World Wide Web Consortium]] |date=24 December 1999 |access-date=30 May 2015}}</ref> or the other key combinations in the following table. In [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]], [[AutoHotkey]] scripts can be used to assign simpler key combinations to opening and closing quotation marks.
{{Anchor|How to type}}
{| class="wikitable"
|+How to type typographic quotation marks (and apostrophes) on a computer keyboard
! colspan="2" |&nbsp;
! style="text-align: center" |Windows [[Alt code]] combinations
! style="text-align: center;" |[[macOS]] key combinations
! style="text-align: center" |Linux ([[X Window System|X]]) keys
! style="text-align: center" |Unicode point
! style="text-align: center" |[[HTML entity]]
! style="text-align: center" |HTML decimal
|-
!Single opening
|style="text-align: center; width: 30px"|&nbsp;<span style="font-family:serif;font-size:150%">‘</span>&nbsp;
|{{key press|Alt}}+{{keypress|0}}{{key press|1}}{{key press|4}}{{key_press|5}} (on number pad)
|{{key press|Opt|]}}
|{{key press|[[Compose key|Compose]]|<|'}} or {{key press|[[AltGr key|Alt Gr]]|Shift|V}}
|U+2018
|<code>&amp;lsquo;</code>
|<code>&amp;#8216;</code>
|-
!Single closing<small><br />(&amp; apostrophe<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.fileformat.info/info/unicode/char/2019/index.htm |title=Unicode Character 'RIGHT SINGLE QUOTATION MARK' (U+2019) |work=FileFormat.info |access-date=21 December 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U2000.pdf|title=General Punctuation: Range: 2000–206F |work=Unicode.org |publisher=[[Unicode Consortium]] |access-date=21 December 2015}}</ref>)</small>
|style="text-align: center" |&nbsp;<span style="font-family:serif;font-size:150%">’</span>&nbsp;
|{{keypress|Alt}}+{{keypress|0}}{{keypress|1}}{{keypress|4}}{{keypress|6}} (on number pad)
|{{keypress|Opt|Shift|]}}
|{{keypress|Compose|>|'}} or {{keypress|Alt Gr|Shift|B}}
|U+2019
|<code>&amp;rsquo;</code>
|<code>&amp;#8217;</code>
|-
!Double opening
|style="text-align: center" |&nbsp;<span style="font-family:serif;font-size:150%">“</span>&nbsp;
|{{keypress|Alt}}+{{keypress|0}}{{keypress|1}}{{keypress|4}}{{keypress|7}} (on number pad)
|{{keypress|Opt|[}}
|{{keypress|Compose|<|"}} or {{keypress|Alt Gr|v}}
|U+201C
|<code>&amp;ldquo;</code>
|<code>&amp;#8220;</code>
|-
!Double closing
|style="text-align: center" |&nbsp;<span style="font-family:serif;font-size:150%">”</span>&nbsp;
|{{keypress|Alt}}+{{keypress|0}}{{keypress|1}}{{keypress|4}}{{keypress|8}} (on number pad)
|{{keypress|Opt|Shift|[}}
|{{keypress|Compose|>|"}} or {{keypress|Alt Gr|b}}
|U+201D
|<code>&amp;rdquo;</code>
|<code>&amp;#8221;</code>
|}
{{crossreference|(For additional characters used in other languages, see {{section link|Quotation mark#Summary table}}.)}}

==== Smart quotes ====
To make typographic quotation marks easier to enter, publishing software often automatically converts typewriter quotation marks (and apostrophes) to typographic form during text entry (with or without the user being aware of it). [[Out of the box (feature)|Out-of-the-box]] behavior on macOS and iOS is to make this conversion. These are known as ''smart quotes'' ('''{{serif|{{large|“...”}}}}'''). Straight quotation marks are also [[retronym]]ically called ''dumb quotes'' ('''{{serif|{{large|"..."}}}}''').<ref>{{cite web |url=https://type.fans/typographic-train-wrecks/?route=/2011/01/31/typographic-train-wrecks/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181221230644/https://type.fans/typographic-train-wrecks/?route=/2011/01/31/typographic-train-wrecks/ |url-status=usurped |archive-date=21 December 2018 |title=Typographic Train Wrecks |first=Dave |last=Spencer |date=31 January 2011 |work=Glyphic |access-date=21 December 2018}}</ref>

The method for producing smart quotes may be based solely on the character preceding the mark. If it is a space or another of a set of [[hard-coded]] characters or if the mark begins a line, the mark will be rendered as an opening quote; if not, it will be rendered as a closing quote or apostrophe. This method can cause errors, especially for contractions that start with an apostrophe or text with nested quotations:
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Text as typed
!Desired result
!Example erroneous results
|-
|{{mono|'14}}
|{{serif|’}}14
|{{serif|‘}}14
|-
|{{mono|I forgot my 'phone.}}
|{{serif|I forgot my ’phone.}}
|{{serif|I forgot my ‘phone.}}
|-
|{{mono|'Twas the night before Christmas&nbsp;...<ref>[[Clement Clarke Moore|Moore, Clement Clarke]] (1823), "[[A Visit from Saint Nicholas]]", first published in the ''[[Troy Sentinel]]''. The [https://www.huffpost.com/entry/twas-the-night-before-christmas_n_801194 quotation] in the ''[[Huffington Post]]'' exhibits the problem with "smart quotes".</ref>}}
|{{serif|’{{hairsp}}Twas the night before Christmas&nbsp;...}}
|{{serif|‘{{hairsp}}Twas the night before Christmas&nbsp;...}}
|-
|{{mono|"'Hello,' he said, 'to you'"}}
|{{serif|“{{thinsp}}‘Hello,’ he said, ‘to you’{{thinsp}}”}}
|{{plainlist|
* {{serif|“{{thinsp}}‘Hello,’ he said, ‘to you’{{thinsp}}“}}
* {{serif|“{{thinsp}}’Hello,’ he said, ‘to you’{{thinsp}}”}}
}}
|}
In Windows, if it is necessary to follow a space with a closing quotation mark when Smart Quotes is in effect, it is usually sufficient to input the character using the Alt code shown [[#How to type|above]] rather than typing {{keypress|"}} or {{keypress|'}}.