The Use of Quotation Marks

The principal function of quotation marks is to mark quotes and dialogues. In Spanish, there are two formulas for dialogues: dashes and quotation marks. The latter are used when dialogues are incorporated in the paragraph or within a dialogue that is marked off by quotation marks. Quotation marks are also used with memories and thoughts.

When a sentence that is between quotation marks or a dialogue is made up of several paragraphs, continuity is indicated at the beginning of each paragraph via a closing quotation mark  or a continuing quotation mark. In English, we use quotation marks to start every paragraph of a quote.

When a fragment is between quotation marks and divided into several paragraphs, the same convention is applied in Spanish: the beginning and end of the fragments are marked and continuing quotation marks are used at the beginning of each paragraph.