guillemets
The English phrase "double quotes" is translated into French as guillemets.
In French, guillemets refers to the punctuation marks used to indicate a direct quote or a specific piece of text. Unlike the curved English-style quotes " ", standard French typography uses the angle brackets .
How does it change in a sentence?
The plural form guillemets is the standard way to refer to the pair of marks, whereas the singular guillemet refers to a single bracket. When referring to the punctuation marks in general, the term is almost always used with the definite article as les guillemets.
When do people say it?
Standard French typography requires a non-breaking space after the opening guillemet and before the closing guillemet, such as in the example La vie est belle.
Did you know?
- While English uses quotes to mark the start of every single line of dialogue, French writers often use guillemets only to open and close the entire conversation, using a tiret for each new speaker in between.
- In French, if a quote contains another quote, the inner quote is usually marked with English-style marks " " while the outer quote remains guillemets.
- In some digital environments or casual text messaging, French speakers may revert to using the English 'double quotes' instead of the formal guillemets. This is because the latter can be more difficult to type on standard smartphone keyboards.
Examples in context
- N'oublie pas de mettre les guillemets ici.Don't forget to put the double quotes here.
- Il faut utiliser des guillemets pour la citation.You must use double quotes for the quotation.
- Où sont les guillemets dans ce texte ?Where are the double quotes in this text?
Example conversation
Hugo is helping Manon proofread her essay in a cafe.
- ManonHugo, est-ce que j'ai bien mis les guillemets ?Hugo, did I put the double quotes correctly?
- HugoOui, mais vérifie encore une fois.Yes, but check one more time.
- ManonJe pense qu'il manque des guillemets après ce mot.I think some double quotes are missing after this word.
- HugoTu as raison, ajoute-les tout de suite.You are right, add them right away.
