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Quotes Needed Here?

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PianoAl

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...I was wondering whether I'd fall if I put on the brakes. I couldn't resist trying, and the answer was yes.

Do I definitely need quotes around the word "yes," or are they optional?
 

rwm4768

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I don't see why you'd need quotes there. Unless someone is actually saying yes, you shouldn't use quotes. There are some instances where you use quotes for things other than speech, but I don't think this is an instance of that.
 

cornflake

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...I was wondering whether I'd fall if I put on the brakes. I couldn't resist trying, and the answer was yes.

Do I definitely need quotes around the word "yes," or are they optional?

I find the sentence really unclear, but from what I gather, you don't need quotes; no one is speaking.
 

Nymtoc

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I find the sentence really unclear, but from what I gather, you don't need quotes; no one is speaking.

I agree on both counts. You don't need quotes, and your example is rather awkwardly worded. I wasn't sure what it meant the first time I read it. Something like this might work better:

"...I was wondering whether I'd fall if I put on the brakes. I couldn't resist trying, and I sailed right over the handlebars."

"...I was wondering whether I'd fall if I put on the brakes. I couldn't resist trying, and I fell flat on my face."

"...I was wondering whether I'd fall if I put on the brakes. I couldn't resist trying, and I ended up in the ditch."

Or something like that, assuming I understand your meaning. :Huh:
 

StephanieFox

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No quotes needed. He asked her if she like carrots. She said yes.

She said yes, when asked about the carrots.

Yes, she said, she like carrots very much.

She said yes, she would go back home. "They have the best carrots," she said.
 

fredXgeorge

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Agreed. If no one is actually saying it then no quotation marks needed.
 

PianoAl

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OK, got it.

And I see now how unclear the sentence is. I want to have the answer-to-the-question part in there, so perhaps I should word it like this:
I was riding over a frozen foot/bike bridge in Michigan, and I was thinking, Will I fall if I put on the brakes? I couldn’t resist trying it, touched the brakes, and down I went. So I got the answer to my question: yes.

Better or too wordy?

In that rewrite, I would have put my thoughts in quotes too, but I learned that quotes would be wrong, and italics are acceptable, although not ideal. In this case, I want them in order to have a clear question/answer pair. Gets complicated, huh?

Thanks for the help,

Al
 
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AW Admin

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Thanks for being so helpful, be please remember that this is not the place for a crit.

Y'all are gonna get me in trouble with the Share Your Work mods.
 
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