Quotation Marks in LaTeX

Open a quotation with two backquotes (the key left of 1) and close it with two apostrophes; single quotes use one of each. The straight " key gives two closing marks, which is why quotes look backwards. With the csquotes package, \enquote{text} picks the right marks for you.

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Quote marks

“ ” (typed directly)
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Curly quotes typed in a UTF-8 document also work.
\enquote{text}
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csquotes: correct marks for the language, nested quotes switch to single.
\begin{quote} ... \end{quote}
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Indented block for short quotations.
\begin{quotation} ... \end{quotation}
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Block for long, multi-paragraph quotations.
\textquotedbl
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A straight " character when you really need it.

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LaTeX

Templates

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Quotation marks examples

Each result below is drawn from the LaTeX under it. Copy the code, edit it on this page, or open it in the full editor.

Quoted words in a formula
$the “golden ratio” φ = \frac{1 + \sqrt{5}}{2}$
LaTeX
```
\text{the “golden ratio” } \varphi = \frac{1 + \sqrt{5}}{2}
```
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Prime marks are not quotes
$f^{'} (x) f^{″} (x)$
LaTeX
```
f'(x) \quad f''(x)
```
In math an apostrophe is a prime for derivatives, not a closing quote.
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In a LaTeX document

These commands work in the text of a .tex document (Overleaf, TeX Live, MiKTeX), not inside math. The box on the right shows what the compiled PDF looks like.

Double and single quotes
LaTeX
```
He said ``hello'' and then `goodbye'.
```
Compiled result
He said “hello” and then ‘goodbye’.
What the " key gives
LaTeX
```
He said "hello".
```
Compiled result
He said ”hello”.

csquotes

LaTeX

\usepackage[autostyle]{csquotes}
...
She wrote \enquote{the term \enquote{proof} is precise}.

Compiled result

She wrote “the term ‘proof’ is precise”.

Why quotes come out backwards

LaTeX was designed for keyboards with separate opening and closing quote keys. The straight double-quote key produces a closing mark, so "text" becomes ”text”: two closing quotes. Typing two backquotes before and two apostrophes after gives the correct “text”.

Other languages and code

csquotes with babel selects German „…“, French « … » or Swiss styles from the document language. In verbatim and listings, quote characters are printed straight, as in code.

Common mistakes

The straight key gives closing marks on both sides.
Instead of
```
"quoted"
```
Write
```
``quoted''
```
Two apostrophes at the start also give closing marks.
Instead of
```
''quoted''
```
Write
```
``quoted''
```
\enquote comes from csquotes.
Instead of
```
\enquote{text}  (no csquotes)
```
Write
```
\usepackage{csquotes}
```

In Overleaf, MathJax and Word

Overleaf and pdfLaTeX
Backquotes and apostrophes work without packages; csquotes is preinstalled.
MathJax and KaTeX
In MathJax and KaTeX use curly quotes inside \text{}; the backquote convention is not applied on the web.
Microsoft Word
Word replaces straight quotes with curly ones automatically (AutoFormat As You Type › "Straight quotes" with “smart quotes”).

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