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Inverted commas or quotation marks are punctuation marks used in pairs to mark off speech, a quotation, a phrase or a word. Both single (‘…’) and double (“…”) quotes are correct. Double quotation marks are preferred in US English, while both single and double quotation marks are used in British English. The important thing is to be consistent. If a phrase opens with single quotation marks then it must also close with single marks.

Here are some general guidelines on how to use inverted commas.

Direct Speech

Quotation marks must be used to enclose direct speech or a direct quote:

-The teacher said, “Class is dismissed.”

They are not used for indirect speech, where what someone said is paraphrased:

-The teacher said that the class was dismissed.

If quoted text is interrupted, a closing quotation mark is used before the interruption, and an opening quotation mark after. Commas are also usually used before and after the interruption.

-“Please sit down,” the teacher said, “the class has not ended.”

Titles

Inverted commas are usually used for the titles of shorter works such as the titles of songs, short stories, essays, articles and poems. Whether these are single or double is a matter of style, although single quotation marks are often preferred for poetry.
Italics are generally used for the titles of books, magazines or newspapers.

Quotations within Quotations

Depending on whether the original quotation is enclosed in single or double quotation marks, use the other form to enclose a title, piece of dialogue or direct quote that appears within the quotation:

-“I overheard him shout, ‘Please close the door.’” Michael said.

The end of the sentence has two separate sets of inverted commas: a single mark to end the quotation and a double mark to close the quoted speech.

Marks of Punctuation used with Quotation Marks

British and US usage of punctuation with inverted commas is the same for question marks, exclamation marks, colons and semicolons but varies for commas and full stops.

When a semicolon or a colon appears at the end of a quotation, put it outside the quotation mark:

-I heard the assistant say, “The customer service desk is on the 1st floor”; however, I didn’t hear him say, “The desk is currently closed.”

When a question mark or an exclamation mark appears at the end of a quotation, put it inside the quotation mark if it belongs to the quotation:

-Claire said, “I’d like to watch Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”

If it does not belong to the quotation, put it outside the quotation mark:

-Did you sing, “Happy Birthday”?

In the US, commas and full stops are nearly always placed inside closing quotation marks. This is also used in British English in fiction and journalism:

-“Sometimes,” George replied, “I prefer to cycle to work.”

In British English, it is standard to include within quotation marks any punctuation marks that appeared in the quoted material, but to place other punctuation outside the closing quotation marks.

-“Sometimes”, Laura said, “I walk to work with a colleague.”

Sarcasm, irony and the non-standard use of words

A common use of inverted commas is to highlight ironic or sarcastic words in a sentence:

-He is wearing a very “fashionable” jacket.
-The secretary called in “sick” today.

Quotation marks can be used to indicate that the writer is using a word in a non-standard or unusual way:

-The study shows that the drug “knows” which cells to target.

They can also draw attention to slang, jargon or humorous usage.

-The police blamed the spate of attacks on the rise of “happy slapping”.

A writer can also use quotation marks to distances themselves from the terminology used, whether because the term is not correct or is controversial.

Incorrect Usage

Quotes are sometimes used incorrectly for emphasis where underlining or italics would be preferable. This can unwittingly alter the meaning of the text by suggesting that the word does not carry its true meaning:

-“Free” cookie with every child’s meal

-“Fresh” fish and chips

E-commerce consumers around the world say that books and clothes will continue to top their list of planned online purchases in the next six months, according to a study of over 27,000 internet users in 55 markets by Nielsen.

Compared to a similar study in 2009, intentions to buy airline tickets and make hotel or tour reservations online increased 7 percent and 9 percent, respectively – a sign that the global economy is improving.

Other products and services tagged for future online purchases include electronic equipment, cosmetics/nutrition supplies, event tickets, computer hardware, videos/DVDs/games and groceries. One third of online consumers say they primarily do their internet shopping from online-only retailers. As many as 79 percent of online Europeans plan to purchase products or services via the internet in the next six months.

In Ireland that figure rises to 83 percent, and in Great Britain it rises to almost 90 percent.

Source: Nielson.Com

The terms uppercase characters and lowercase characters are used commonly today in the language of desktop publishing.

Have you ever stopped to think where the terms originated?

Strangely enough most publishing terms actually come from the old print industry. When documents where originally put together for printing, all the letters had to be manually placed onto the press before the page was pressed.

All the characters were stored in the printers’ case of letters, which had an upper part of the case where capital letters were stored and a lower part of the case where the other letters were stored.

Thus was born the language of  “upper case letters ” and  “lower case letters “.

Brought to you by STAR Translation Services

1.    English proofreading services.
Language is STAR’s business so we have English proofreaders on our teams. You may not need translation, but perhaps your latest documents could do with a good proofreading.

You may be working on your latest tender submission or updating your website for English readers and need your text checked for consistency or ease of understanding. Our English proofreading teams can help you.
We also provide proofreading in all the languages we translate into.

2.    US English and UK English Translation
Gasoline or Petrol, Zucchini or Courgette? We provide US English and UK English conversions and vice-versa on a regular basis for clients. Ecommerce providers often have different sites for their English-speaking customers around the globe.

Having your website checked for spelling mistakes can improve your online sales.

3.    Voiceovers
Need a video translated? We provide voiceover translation and actors for all our languages.

4.    Document Conversion
Paper, FrameMaker, InDesign, QuarkExpress, PDF, etc. From lost originals to just conversion to the latest document system, we can help you.

Occasionally you may have to translate a project where you have lost your original sources. STAR’s desktop publishing teams have the experience and expertise to recreate almost any document. Even if you only have a scanned image or PDF, we can recreate your documents for you.

You may also have decided to retire some older software and move your documents to the latest design package like InDesign. We can help make that transition easier for you.

5.    Software Localization
Whether you are developing a desktop application or an iPad app we can help you deliver your software in multiple languages.

STAR has its own software development teams. We are a developer of document and information technology ourselves, so we know the challenges of international software design.

We can give you advice on what the best steps are for your project, including enabling and software localization services.

Download our PDF document on first time Localization

Contact us today for a quote:

PHONE:
from USA/UK: +353 1 8365614
from Ireland: 01 8365614

An issue that pops up from time to time when we translate for clients is the issue of source copyright. Always ask your design agency up front whether you own all artwork and if they will supply you with all the master documents upon completion.

Some clients encounter problems when they start translating as their designers won’t release the master files to the translation agency.

Agencies can offer two rates for design. The first is a flat rate for your work where you get the rights to print your artwork. The 2nd is for full ownership of all the creative sources.

It is a bit like photography. Nowadays if you have a professional photograph taken you get a print of the image that you can then hang in your office or home.  However, the photographer maintains ownership of the original photograph. If you wanted to use this photograph again commercially you need to purchase the rights from them.

Recent changes to various rules and regulations in Ireland have led to a dramatic increase in the level of demand for translation for Government departments from English into Irish. The changes were welcomed by the translation industry as a whole, and the public sector translation services in particular, as demand for translators of Irish increased. The Official Languages Act 2003 placed a statutory obligation on public services and departments of state to provide information through Irish, as well as correspond through Irish if requested.  When Irish became an official language of the EU, all key EU legislation had to be translated into Irish also.

According to Irish Times journalist Lorna Siggins, http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/0518/1224246810030.html the Government runs two separate language units for translating primary and secondary legislation from English to Irish. The new Rannán Seirbhisí Aistriúcháin will translate secondary legislation, such as statutory instruments, while the existing Rannóg an Aistriúcháin will continue to produce Irish versions of primary legislation. According to the Houses of the Oireachtas Communications Unit, the intention is for the new unit  to develop the capacity of the private sector to provide outsourced translation services at the requisite standard and to meet needs by a mixture of staff recruitment, outsourcing to the private sector and providing advisory and support services to departments and other rule-making authorities.

According to Daniel Mc Connell in his Sunday December 27 2009 article, http://www.independent.ie/national-news/government-wastes-83641m-on-translations-into-irish-1990149.html the Government  spends  almost €1m of taxpayers’ money per year on translation into Irish for government departments.

Working alone and in collaboration with other organizations, Fiontar, Dublin City University’s Irish-medium Teaching & Research Unit, has set up Irish language terminology databases to help facilitate translation from English into Irish. These projects include  Fiontar’s www. focal.ie national database of Irish language terminology and its LEX project, which involves supplying terminology for the EU term bank iate.europa.eu. The organization is working with The Placenames Branch (Department of Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs) to develop the Placenames Database of Ireland at www.logainm.ie. and is also working in collaboration with Cló Iar-Chonnachta and original authors to develop an Irish language biography project, the objective of which is is to digitise nine volumes of Irish biographies (1986-2007).

http://www.focal.ie/Stats.aspx shows a chart  revealing the number of searches carried out by the general public on the focal.ie national terminology base over the past few years. It is interesting to note that there seems to be a spike of interest in the Irish language around March/April for each of the years.

AECMA SPEC 1000D data for defence technology

The AECMA (Association Européenne des Constructeurs de Matériel Aérospatial [European Association of Aerospace Industries]) is an association of members from all the national aerospace associations in EU Member States, the Czech Republic and Europe’s largest aerospace and defence technology companies. An AECMA working group (the TPSMG = Technical Publications Specification Maintenance Group) has set itself the goal of defining a uniform Specification for Technical Documentation. This specification is called AECMA SPEC 1000D. One of the requirements was to design this specification to neutral and internationally accepted standards.

What is AECMA SPEC 1000D and why is it used?

AECMA S1000D is currently the most comprehensive specification for technical publications in the world. In addition to the DTD discussed it also contains specifications for using standardized graphic data formats, etc.

The specification has many advantages, for it

• is based on neutral and internationally accepted standards,
• reduces the cost of maintaining technical information,
• enables data to be transferred between various IT systems,
• enables publication in various media from a single source,
• is not copyright protected, makes multiple use of the data possible,
• is already used in many national and international projects,
• is open to further development in response to new technologies.

Developing AECMA SPEC 1000D

The first version of AECMA S1000D was adopted in 1989. Since then many amendments have been made in order to implement users’ requirements and to integrate new technologies. In addition, DTD variations based on S1000D were developed outside of the AECMA, in order to permit functionality required for projects ar short notice. Hence the creation of version 1.7x, based on AECMA version 1.7. Version 1.7x makes it possible to use hotspots, for example, which became obligatory for German Federal Navy projects F124 and U212, among others. Whilst these DTDs are still in use, the AECMA DTDs have been further developed. And so the functionality of version 1.7x is also implemented in the current version 1.9 by AECMA.

In addition to this development, many companies have become aware of SGML and wish to profit from the benefits of this format. Since companies’ DTD requirements frequently lead to modification of the AECMA DTD original version, further versions are then created. In addition, different countries sometimes also place different requirements on the DTD and then amend them accordingly. This naturally leads to problems when exchanging data and to increased costs for suppliers, who have to familiarise themselves with different DTDs and specifications.

SGML, DTD
The ISO Standard SGML (Standard Generalized Markup Language) was chosen as the format for textual information for SPEC 1000D.

The required structures will be defined using a DTD (Document Type Definition). SGML and DTD are thus used as the uniform basis for creating documentation.

Transformation using GRIPS

STAR’s content authoring and documentation system GRIPS permits fully automatic generation of data modules including the associated Data Module Codes and the desired paper documentation from one and the same data source. Transformation of these modules in accordance with specific requirements is integrated into GRIPS.

Consistency checks and automated tests make the author’s work easier – as a result of a standardized working environment.

Transformation of SGML data

Transforming SGML data makes it possible to:

• Transfer data automatically,
• shift structures,
• convert structures so that they comply with a different DTD.

In an ideal case, functionality of this kind is integrated into the authoring environment so that external data can be imported into the system and so that data can be exported in accordance with customer requirements. This means that the authors do not need to familiarise themselves with each specification in detail.

Transforming data for publishing purposes

If data modules are to be published on paper (e.g. Using Adobe FrameMaker), this often leads to problems which can normally be solved by transforming the data with minimum effort. This means that information such as allocation to paper-based generation guidelines (H011 etc.) can be added automatically. When processed in modular format as defined in SPEC 1000D, it is then also very well suited to conversion into HTML. The major advantage of this transformation is that HTML files can be made readable on any computer without an import and without special software.

Automatic checks on data modules in accordance with project-related specifications

The AECMA S1000D DTD is not sufficient to constitute a specification. The associated browser guidelines (which, in the field of defence technology, is the IETD German Federal Army user system) must also be considered. Project-related requirements set out in the respective Guidance Document (GD) count as further specifications. Such regulations cannot be captured by the DTD. The author can therefore only generate data which corresponds to the DTD, but not to the project and browser guidelines. Such guidelines can also be checked with the help of a data transformation. This involves a data module check, whereby the DTD including all additional specifications are taken into account and the report files are generated.

STAR GROUP

The STAR Group is one of the largest providers of technical information and translation in the world. Our global presence means that we are always close to the local market and customer – we always speak your language, wherever you are. The STAR Group is also a leading supplier of all the tools needed for the information process, from authoring to printing. This combination of services and tools make us unique in the market.

There is a growing  level  of demand on translation agencies to deliver quality public sector translation services in Ireland. Translation for government departments both takes place in-house and is outsourced to translation agencies who offer public sector translation services.

According to an article at http://www.nccri.ie/pdf/Interpreting%20and%20Translating%20Services.pdf,

the increasing diversity in languages spoken in the country today means that the provision of interpreting and translating services has become a pressing need if people with low proficiency in English are to experience equality of access and outcomes in their interaction with key government services such as health, justice, education and housing.

The 2006 Census illustrates the diversity that exists among Ireland’s non-Irish population.  Immigrants numbering over 10,000 without mother tongue English come from Poland, Germany, Lithuania, Latvia, Nigeria, Latvia and China and  there are between 1000-10,000 immigrants from each of the following countries: Czech Republic, Estonia,  Hungary, Moldova, Romania, Slovakia, Russia and Ukraine. While there are some remarkable similarities among the different groups there are also areas of strong dissimilarity e.g. while many Polish people are primarily here to work, Chinese people often come here to study.

Graph and figures from Census 2006

According to Paula MaGovern at http://careeradvice.loadzajobs.ie/industry-insight/multilingual/multilingual-jobs-in-ireland-irish-translation-942, over recent years there has been a particularly sharp increase in demand for the translation of English into Irish, not least because from 1 January 2007 Irish became an official language of the EU. This means that all key EU legislation must be translated into Irish. At http://www.siliconrepublic.com/news/article/3828/government/public-bodies-get-lost-in-translation/ John Kennedy states that the introduction of various pieces of legislation means that every document produced will have to be done in both languages, ranging from an information notice to a press release.

A major challenge for public sector translation services in general, and for translation for government departments in particular, is producing health care, education, and legal service documents that are sensitive to cultural differences. According to a Garda spokesman at http://thetranslatorscafe.wordpress.com/2008/08/11/ireland-garda-siochana-spent-almost-e3-million-on-interpreters-last-year/ the Garda Siochána spends almost €3 million on interpreters per year,  and deals with over 200 languages and dialects on a regular basis.  The contracts to translate for the Health Service Executive (HSE), the Courts Service and the Garda are the biggest public sector translation contracts in the country. In 2007,  these three bodies had an annual bill of about €5.75 million.  The HSE spent €750,000 on interpreting in 2007 and uses a list of preferred providers that it issues to hospitals and other healthcare facilities. The Courts Service spent more than €2 million on interpreting  in 2008, and expected to spend €2.5 million  in 2009.  According to Ivana Bacik  in her article The Language Barrier: Access to Justice in the New Ireland

http://www.jsijournal.ie/html/Volume%207%20No.%202/2007%5B2%5D_Bacik_Breaking%20the%20Language%20Barrier.pdf,

the most frequently used languages in court are Cantonese, Mandarin, French, Romanian and Russian.

• Try to VS Try and

Some experts say that you shouldn’t be using try and when you mean try to. It has clearly been established as a informal idiom, therefore it is okay to use it in casual language. However, we advise you not to use it in formal writing.

• Viable VS Practical

The sentence “this idea is not viable” is not correct; according to experts, the true meaning of this word is “capable of living or surviving”. However, some dictionaries list “viable” and “practical” as synonyms.

• Past VS Last

When should we use past instead of last ?

Tip: use it when last may confuse the readers (ex: “The last decade” – you could mean the latest decade, as well as the last decade of a century. In this case, using past is clearer.)

• Farther VS Further

Farther is usually used to denote physical distance (ex: Lucy lives farther away from me than her sister), whereas further means mental distance (ex: Nothing could be further from the truth).