- If you're watching this video, you're probably struggling one way or another with quoting. In this video, we'll learn how to quote together step by step. And by the end of this video, you'll be an expert. Yes, we can. Hold on. Did I just quote someone? 

- Yes, we can. 

- Now, there are three basic principles of quoting. The quote itself has to be surrounded by quotation marks. Cite the author correctly. So make sure you include the author's name, the year. And if it's from a book or a journal, you need the exact page number as well. 

The quote also has to be identical to the original, so no changing it. If you do end up changing it, there are a few points you need to be aware of, which I will explain later in the video. Of course, depending on your citation style, the citation contains different information. In this video, we'll be focusing on APA, but don't worry if you're using other styles. Just check the link in the description. 

We just talked about the three principles of quoting. Now we're diving deeper into how to quote in a bigger picture. So how do you actually introduce and format a quote? What's the difference between a short and a long blog quote? And finally, how do you make changes to a quote? 

Let's begin with how to introduce a quote. There are three ways to introduce a quote. The first is with an introductory sentence. Consider this example. You can introduce the quote with a full sentence followed by a colon. 

You can also use introductory signal phrase. Now take a look at this example. You can use a signal phrase that mentions the author or source but doesn't form a full sentence. In this case, you follow the phrase with a comma instead of a colon. Of course, you can also use other dialogue verbs such as argues, claims, or explains. And if you want to quote a phrase that's not a full sentence or if it flows well with your paragraph, you can also integrate it in your own sentence, as you can see from this example. 

Now that we know how to introduce a quote, let's tackle the differences between a short and a long block quote. If the quote you want to use is less than 40 words, remember the principles we mentioned earlier-- quotation marks and in-text citation. But if it's more than 40 words, instead of using quotation marks, you set the quote on a new line and indent it so that it forms a separate block of text. 

Now that we've learned the basics of quoting, let's get more advanced and take a look at how quotes can be changed. Let's say you found a perfect quote, but it's a bit too long, and some of the information is irrelevant, so you want to take that out. We can do that by removing words, phrases, or sentences and replace them with ellipses. That's a dot, dot, dot. 

You can also add information to a quote. If a quote is missing information that's essential for you to understand it, you can add it in square brackets. In this example, the quote uses a pronoun that refers to someone mentioned before. But without the previous sentence, the readers might not know who that is referred to. Then you can replace the pronoun with the person's name in brackets. 

If you just so happen to come across a piece of text you want to quote, but it contains some errors. In this scenario, there are spelling and grammatical mistakes. You can notice the error by adding square brackets sic after the mistake. 

Of course, quotes are extremely useful and often a basic requirement when you're writing a paper. With this in mind, try not to go overboard with it, and only use it in the following cases. Number one-- focusing on language. Let's say you're writing a paper about the novels of a modernist author. In this case, you probably have to quote frequently in order to analyze their language and style. 

Number two-- giving evidence. To convince the readers of your argument, interpretation, or your position on a topic, you should include quotes that support your point. Number three-- presenting an author's position or definition. You can quote to show that your point is supported by an authority on a topic or to critique a position that you disagree with. For example, you found a sentence that perfectly sums up a theory of your topic, so you quote the author before elaborating on your understanding of that theory. 

And that's it for this video on how to quote. Thanks for watching, and I hope you learned something useful. For more information on quoting, check out the article in the description box below. See you next time!