Quotation Marks

Level 5

Low opening mark, high closing mark.

How It Works

In Bosnian text, direct speech and titles are put in quotation marks that look like this: „ “. The opening mark is low (like a small 99), and the closing mark is high.

ExampleMeaning
„Dobar dan“, rekla je Selma."Good day," said Selma.
„Gdje si?“, pitala je Ajla."Where are you?" asked Ajla.
Čitam „Derviš i smrt“.I am reading "Death and the Dervish".

Notice the comma. When the words of the speaker come after the quote, a comma follows the closing mark: „Dolazim sutra“, rekao je Amir. The sentence does not end with a full stop inside the quote.

A question mark or an exclamation mark stays inside the quote when it belongs to the quoted words. After it, many writers still add the comma before the speaker tag, and others use a dash instead.

You may see other styles in print and on screens, such as straight marks (" ") or » «. Typed text on a phone often uses the straight ones. The low-high pair is the style to learn first.

Examples (5)

  1. „Dobar dan“, rekla je Selma.

    "Good day," said Selma.

    The speaker tag follows a comma.

  2. „Gdje si?“, pitala je Ajla.

    "Where are you?" Ajla asked.

    The question mark stays inside the quote.

  3. Amir je rekao: „Dolazim sutra.“

    Amir said: "I am coming tomorrow."

    With a colon, the quote ends with its own full stop.

  4. Čitam „Tvrđavu“ od Meše Selimovića.

    I am reading Selimović's novel "The Fortress".

    Titles can also take quotation marks.

  5. „Hajde da idemo“, rekao je Haris.

    "Let's go," said Haris.

    Direct speech is set off.

How It Connects

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Quotation MarksLevel 5

Learn This First

Quotation marks.

Words in This Pattern

navodnik