# Paraphrasing in quotations **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 11, 2005, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paraphrasing-in-quotations/330587 "2005-11-11T16:49:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paraphrasing-in-quotations/330587/1 "2005-11-11T16:49:14Z")
Should a paraphrase go in quotation marks? ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paraphrasing-in-quotations/330587/2 "2005-11-11T16:54:30Z")
“No.” Feel feel to paraphrase me. 😃 John said the Nissan Sentra was economical and reliable. = paraphrasing John said, “The Nissan Sentra is economical, reliable and shown to be one of the more dependable cars on the road.” Direct quote" " "quotation needed. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paraphrasing-in-quotations/330587/3 "2005-11-11T16:58:50Z")
If you’re paraphrasing \*\*within \*\*a quotation, you need to use brackets, as in: He said, “We visited [three family members] before returning home.” ---
**Author:** ![muttrox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a8b319/32.png) [@muttrox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muttrox)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paraphrasing-in-quotations/330587/4 "2005-11-11T18:38:24Z")
Note that if you are transcribing an interview you are allowed to clean up the er/ahs and grammar a wee bit as long as you don’t change the essential meaning. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paraphrasing-in-quotations/330587/5 "2005-11-12T01:59:04Z")
> [@muttrox](#): > > Note that if you are transcribing an interview you are allowed to clean up the er/ahs and grammar a wee bit as long as you don’t change the essential meaning. I often see quotations (inside quote marks) that were obviously made in another language and therefore have been translated. Somehow that is considered legitimate, but isn’t it really a form of paraphrase? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paraphrasing-in-quotations/330587/6 "2005-11-12T02:06:08Z")
I think **panache45** gave a good example. He/she said: “He said, “We visited [three family members(of **panache45** ’s orginal reference)] before [going back] home.”” ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paraphrasing-in-quotations/330587/7 "2005-11-12T02:07:36Z")
> [@Hari Seldon](#): > > I often see quotations (inside quote marks) that were obviously made in another language and therefore have been translated. Somehow that is considered legitimate, but isn’t it really a form of paraphrase? In a sense, yes, but the idea is that a direct quotation is to render into the language-of-translation as accurately as possible what was said in the language-of-origin. There are times when this is impossible: _werden_ and “become” are not precise equivalents; to render the contrast of _savoir_ and _connaitre_ into English requires either paraphrase or a synonym that weakens the impact. Large aspects of Russian idiom and syntax do not translate directly. But a translation rendered as direct quotation should be as close as the translator can reasonable come to what was said in the original. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paraphrasing-in-quotations/330587/8 "2005-11-12T06:02:02Z")
Now, if we could get FOX News to understand that difference!!