It is '. Nothing else.

[CertainlyToomsRemains]

Not

`

or

".

Apostrophes are just '.

Thanks.

[relaxes jaw]

I think it looks okay in books to use ' as speechmarks, but I wouldn't practise that in real life.
I would consistently use " for speechmarks even in formal writing when I am doing it myself, and I would expect that in others' writing.

Mainly for the reason that if you've got a huge passage of speaking, it would look overwhelming to use ".
I stand by my comment though, that it's house style.

Maybe it's just one of those things that everyone has got wrong for so long, it's become the normal usage. Like.... oriented as opposed to orientated. And 'Z's instead of 'S's. (Used single quotation marks for you there, Minnie )

don't use quotation marks at all if you're just stating a letter. It looks messy.

so "and Zs instead of Ss."

Actually, oriented is a completely different word from orientated. It's got a scientific basis, and shouldn't be used interchangably (it's also American, which is probably why it's in science language)

When I was at school (80s) we were taught to use double speech marks, and you will find it in a lot of older books. I don't know when it started to change, or why newspapers didn't change...

I heard, 'I come in there last week' on the radio this morning, and I was so incensed by life in general it that I actually shouted, 'No you didn't! You came in!!' [hblush]

There, see, you know I'm right
and in those days, it was very rare to see single quotations except in American books.

There's another thread about past tense going at the moment.
I have a theory on pronunciation.

I will go so far as to say you were right in the past nickelbabe [hwink]

[hgrin]

I have my own personal house style.

e e

Trillian do you use the Oxford comma? And do you say, 'you've got another think coming' or 'thing'?

I do indeed use the Oxford comma.

I rarely use that phrase, but I believe it to be "thing" not "think", because the thing you have coming may be a smack around the head.

You lot have waay to much time on your hands!

P.S. it should be "It is '''. Nothing else."

If you wrote that people would think huh?

"'"

I thought huh anyway!

I got a little bit lost up there, what exactly should I be using when quoting and using speech marks please?
I try very hard write correctly, sadly I am much more verbally capable than in the written form.

I do however, use the Oxford comma in formal writing. Not often I hear about that.

Prolific - if you are in a time warp and living in the eighties, what nickelbabe said. Otherwise, what I said [hwink]

Right, so single it is.

ooh, talking of Oxford commas, I'm getting frustrated with Word and its "English (UK)" grammar check!

My sentence reads:
'Start with very small fluctuations up and down, and gradually expand the range until they are covering their full vocal range.'

First, it tells me that i shouldn't be uising the comma after down, then it tells me that if I must use it, then I should put:
'Starts with very small fluctuations up and down, and gradually expand the range until they are covering their full vocal range. '
or:
'Start with very small fluctuations up and down, and gradually expands the range until they are covering their full vocal range.'

Because obviously, everyone knows that if you're giving a command, you change into 3rd person halfway through the sentence, don't you!

PS: I've noticed that I use the " by habit, and using the ' instead when it's not an apostrophe feels very weird to my typing hands

no, this one is better:

'(ie, each singer will run out of breath at a different time, so there should be new notes starting all over the place) '

Suggestion - replace be with are
"(ie, each singer will run out of breath at a different time, so there should are new notes starting all over the place) "
Oh, yes, that makes much more sense

and apparently,
"Practise random intervals from the anthem first, especially big leaps. " is a fragment, not a full sentence. Can't work that one out, because it's definitely a full sentence....

Do not even get me started on Word and it's so called grammar checks. It makes me need to practice my yoga breathing.

It's like it was taught English by an Elephant.

Most of its "corrections" don't even make sense!