Inverted commas are used to show direct speech. They are also known as speech marks. They are placed before and after the exact words a character says. “Shall we go to Grandpa’s house?” asked Sally.

RADZI CHINYANGANYA: This is Manchester Central Library which is home to over half a million books and books are amazing things. With words alone they can take you to a new fantasy world or perhaps ...

AS THE question implies, to describe quotation marks as inverted commas is only half true. The reason is that printed characters have evolved from hand scripts. If you draw curved quotation marks by ...