# Comp Q : I try to type quotation marks, but they don't appear until i hit space?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comp-q-i-try-to-type-quotation-marks-but-they-dont-appear-until-i-hit-space/524033>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 7, 2010, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comp-q-i-try-to-type-quotation-marks-but-they-dont-appear-until-i-hit-space/524033 "2010-01-07T15:46:19Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Jump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/47e85d/32.png) [@Jump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jump)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comp-q-i-try-to-type-quotation-marks-but-they-dont-appear-until-i-hit-space/524033/1 "2010-01-07T15:46:19Z")

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Ok this is almost certainly a VERY simple question…

On most of the computers I use i just hold shift, and press a button and i get a (") displayed.  
However since i’ve started using my new Asus laptop loaded with Windows Vista I hold shift, press the button with the (") on it, and nothing happens until i press another key, THEN the (") appears and i continue typing.  
It also doesnt “close” the inverted commas when i want to, which requires me to go though a routine of pressing 3 or 4 buttons before i get what i want.

Does this make any sense to anyone and is there a way to fix it?

(P.s If you can, please put things in as simple terms as possible!)

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**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comp-q-i-try-to-type-quotation-marks-but-they-dont-appear-until-i-hit-space/524033/2 "2010-01-07T15:51:33Z")

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Does this happen in all applications? (Try typing a quote mark into the google search box, for example.)

I am running a Vista machine, and I don’t have this happen at all on mine.

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**Author:** ![BorgHunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@BorgHunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BorgHunter)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comp-q-i-try-to-type-quotation-marks-but-they-dont-appear-until-i-hit-space/524033/3 "2010-01-07T15:59:29Z")

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Sounds like you have the international keyboard turned on. Go to [How to use the United States-International keyboard layout in Windows 7, in Windows Vista, and in Windows XP - Microsoft Support](http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306560) and follow the instructions—except, obviously, when it tells you to choose “United States - International” choose the plain one, which is, as I recall, “US”, and get rid of the International one.

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**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comp-q-i-try-to-type-quotation-marks-but-they-dont-appear-until-i-hit-space/524033/4 "2010-01-07T16:13:41Z")

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I agree with BorgHunter, as I intentionally use this keyboard setting for typing alternate characters. These are called “dead keys”. If you must also use space to type ^ ’ or ~, this is definitely the issue.