Rules for quotes and testimonials

There is no one correct way of quoting. My opinion, which applies to quotes and testimonials, is:

You can use single or double quotation marks for quotes.
If you emphasise a word within a quote use the opposite style, i.e. if you're using double quotation marks, use single quotation marks or italics for the word you're emphasising.
"The answer is 'yes' to the first question."

There is no need to put quotes in italics.
For long quotes, another option is to indent the whole quote. In print documents, such a quote is often in a slightly smaller font. If you're using this style, you don't need quotation marks.

It's common practice on websites to put the writer's name on the following line after a quote. Unless the writer is very famous, give their profession and maybe some extra information such as when they lived, (e.g. 1906–2005). In print documents, the writer may go before the quote (Stephen Kings says: "... ) or in brackets after the quote, e.g. "Vigorous writing is concise." (Strunk).
If your quote comes from a song, put the name of the song in quotation marks and the name of the album in italics, e.g. "Here comes the Sun," Abbey Road, The Beatles.

More grammar tips, grammar e-book and e-newsletter

If you found this tip useful, you might like to read more grammar tips, sign up for the e-newsletter and buy the grammar e-book.