: Is this the correct way to use quotes and commas when there are two quotes within one quote? “He said, ‘spend a week more on the west wall and do your job diligently,’ and that at

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Been there, done that! If you do what I have done, and check a dozen different publications in the same genre (mine was fantasy), you are going to find a dozen different styles.

Unless you are following a regimented style guide, it is essentially up to you or your publisher, if they care.

I have decided to use double quotes for the dialogue remarks and single quotes for the embedded direct speech or quotations. But other authors or their editors/publishers used the opposite, and any combinations thereof, which I assume is caused by such a mundane consideration as saving some ink and paper at the print house.

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What you have written is technically correct according to the rules that I understand and follow. However, I would argue that it, as written, will be confusing to most human readers, and for that reason I would argue that you should restructure the sentence.

For example:

Yarpres was trying to encourage me, "Look, the head man said, ‘spend a week more on the west wall and do your job diligently.’ Good advice that, always."

I must have looked doubtful. Yarpres continued, "The head man must have some confidence in you. He said that at the end of the week, 'he would see.' I know him to be a man of his word.”

I think that this is more digestible than your example in that it does not require the reader to parse the material to get the meaning.

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