Typography and Unicode – Quotation marks and numbers
Languages have different conventions for using quotation marks and writing numbers. This page provides an overview for all major European languages.
The basic characters of the Latin alphabet and our modern numerals are listed here: Basic alphabet. Common special characters, such as punctuation marks and mathematical symbols are shown on the Special characters page. Some languages use special characters in addition to the set of basic Latin letters and characters. For a list of these extensions sorted alphabetically, please see Extensions (alphabetic). For a list sorted by language, please check Extensions (by language).
European languages | Decimal separator | Curly quotation marks | Angle quotation marks | |||||||||||||
Europäische Sprachen | Dezimaltrennzeichen | Normale Anführungszeichen | Winkelanführungszeichen | |||||||||||||
en | English | englisch | . | U+002E | “…” | U+201C | U+201D | ‘…’ | U+2018 | U+2019 | «…» | U+00AB | U+00BB | ‹…› | U+2039 | U+203A |
ga | Irish | irisch | . | U+002E | “…” | U+201C | U+201D | ‘…’ | U+2018 | U+2019 | «…» | U+00AB | U+00BB | ‹…› | U+2039 | U+203A |
mt | Maltese | maltesisch | . | U+002E | “…” | U+201C | U+201D | ‘…’ | U+2018 | U+2019 | «…» | U+00AB | U+00BB | ‹…› | U+2039 | U+203A |
ca | Catalan | katalanisch | , | U+002C | “…” | U+201C | U+201D | ‘…’ | U+2018 | U+2019 | «…» | U+00AB | U+00BB | ‹…› | U+2039 | U+203A |
el | Greek | griechisch | , | U+002C | “…” | U+201C | U+201D | ‘…’ | U+2018 | U+2019 | «…» | U+00AB | U+00BB | ‹…› | U+2039 | U+203A |
es | Spanish | spanisch | , | U+002C | “…” | U+201C | U+201D | ‘…’ | U+2018 | U+2019 | «…» | U+00AB | U+00BB | ‹…› | U+2039 | U+203A |
fr | French | französisch | , | U+002C | “…” | U+201C | U+201D | ‘…’ | U+2018 | U+2019 | «…» | U+00AB | U+00BB | ‹…› | U+2039 | U+203A |
it | Italian | italienisch | , | U+002C | “…” | U+201C | U+201D | ‘…’ | U+2018 | U+2019 | «…» | U+00AB | U+00BB | ‹…› | U+2039 | U+203A |
lv | Latvian | lettisch | , | U+002C | “…” | U+201C | U+201D | ‘…’ | U+2018 | U+2019 | «…» | U+00AB | U+00BB | ‹…› | U+2039 | U+203A |
nl | Dutch | niederländisch | , | U+002C | “…” | U+201C | U+201D | ‘…’ | U+2018 | U+2019 | «…» | U+00AB | U+00BB | ‹…› | U+2039 | U+203A |
no | Norwegian | norwegisch | , | U+002C | “…” | U+201C | U+201D | ‘…’ | U+2018 | U+2019 | «…» | U+00AB | U+00BB | ‹…› | U+2039 | U+203A |
pt | Portuguese | portugiesisch | , | U+002C | “…” | U+201C | U+201D | ‘…’ | U+2018 | U+2019 | «…» | U+00AB | U+00BB | ‹…› | U+2039 | U+203A |
tr | Turkish | türkisch | , | U+002C | “…” | U+201C | U+201D | ‘…’ | U+2018 | U+2019 | «…» | U+00AB | U+00BB | ‹…› | U+2039 | U+203A |
fi | Finnish | finnisch | , | U+002C | ”…” | U+201D | U+201D | ’…’ | U+2019 | U+2019 | »…» | U+00BB | U+00BB | ›…› | U+203A | U+203A |
sv | Swedish | schwedisch | , | U+002C | ”…” | U+201D | U+201D | ’…’ | U+2019 | U+2019 | »…» | U+00BB | U+00BB | ›…› | U+203A | U+203A |
et | Estonian | estnisch | , | U+002C | „…” | U+201E | U+201D | ‚…’ | U+201A | U+2019 | «…» | U+00AB | U+00BB | ‹…› | U+2039 | U+203A |
pl | Polish | polnisch | , | U+002C | „…” | U+201E | U+201D | ‚…’ | U+201A | U+2019 | «…» | U+00AB | U+00BB | ‹…› | U+2039 | U+203A |
ro | Romanian | rumänisch | , | U+002C | „…” | U+201E | U+201D | ‚…’ | U+201A | U+2019 | «…» | U+00AB | U+00BB | ‹…› | U+2039 | U+203A |
sq | Albanian | albanisch | , | U+002C | „…” | U+201E | U+201D | ‚…’ | U+201A | U+2019 | «…» | U+00AB | U+00BB | ‹…› | U+2039 | U+203A |
bs | Bosnian | bosnisch | , | U+002C | „…” | U+201E | U+201D | ‚…’ | U+201A | U+2019 | »…« | U+00BB | U+00AB | ›…‹ | U+203A | U+2039 |
hr | Croatian | kroatisch | , | U+002C | „…” | U+201E | U+201D | ‚…’ | U+201A | U+2019 | »…« | U+00BB | U+00AB | ›…‹ | U+203A | U+2039 |
hu | Hungarian | ungarisch | , | U+002C | „…” | U+201E | U+201D | ‚…’ | U+201A | U+2019 | »…« | U+00BB | U+00AB | ›…‹ | U+203A | U+2039 |
sr | Serbian | serbisch | , | U+002C | „…” | U+201E | U+201D | ‚…’ | U+201A | U+2019 | »…« | U+00BB | U+00AB | ›…‹ | U+203A | U+2039 |
cs | Czech | tschechisch | , | U+002C | „…“ | U+201E | U+201C | ‚…‘ | U+201A | U+2018 | »…« | U+00BB | U+00AB | ›…‹ | U+203A | U+2039 |
da | Danish | dänisch | , | U+002C | „…“ | U+201E | U+201C | ‚…‘ | U+201A | U+2018 | »…« | U+00BB | U+00AB | ›…‹ | U+203A | U+2039 |
de | German | deutsch | , | U+002C | „…“ | U+201E | U+201C | ‚…‘ | U+201A | U+2018 | »…« | U+00BB | U+00AB | ›…‹ | U+203A | U+2039 |
is | Icelandic | isländisch | , | U+002C | „…“ | U+201E | U+201C | ‚…‘ | U+201A | U+2018 | »…« | U+00BB | U+00AB | ›…‹ | U+203A | U+2039 |
lt | Lithuanian | litauisch | , | U+002C | „…“ | U+201E | U+201C | ‚…‘ | U+201A | U+2018 | »…« | U+00BB | U+00AB | ›…‹ | U+203A | U+2039 |
sk | Slovakian | slowakisch | , | U+002C | „…“ | U+201E | U+201C | ‚…‘ | U+201A | U+2018 | »…« | U+00BB | U+00AB | ›…‹ | U+203A | U+2039 |
sl | Slovene | slowenisch | , | U+002C | „…“ | U+201E | U+201C | ‚…‘ | U+201A | U+2018 | »…« | U+00BB | U+00AB | ›…‹ | U+203A | U+2039 |
be | Belarusian | weißrussisch | , | U+002C | „…“ | U+201E | U+201C | ‚…‘ | U+201A | U+2018 | «…» | U+00AB | U+00BB | ‹…› | U+2039 | U+203A |
bg | Bulgarian | bulgarisch | , | U+002C | „…“ | U+201E | U+201C | ‚…‘ | U+201A | U+2018 | «…» | U+00AB | U+00BB | ‹…› | U+2039 | U+203A |
mk | Macedonian | mazedonisch | , | U+002C | „…“ | U+201E | U+201C | ‚…‘ | U+201A | U+2018 | «…» | U+00AB | U+00BB | ‹…› | U+2039 | U+203A |
ru | Russian | russisch | , | U+002C | „…“ | U+201E | U+201C | ‚…‘ | U+201A | U+2018 | «…» | U+00AB | U+00BB | ‹…› | U+2039 | U+203A |
uk | Ukrainian | ukrainisch | , | U+002C | „…“ | U+201E | U+201C | ‚…‘ | U+201A | U+2018 | «…» | U+00AB | U+00BB | ‹…› | U+2039 | U+203A |
Unicode offers a confusing number of quotation marks. However, only ten characters are needed to satisfy the typographical standards of all major European languages (also listed on the Basics page).
The ten quotation marks can be split into curly (standard) and angle (or French) quotation marks. Both are available as single and double quotes.
Curly quotation marks | Angle quotation marks | ||||||
Double | “ | ” | „ | Double | « | » | |
U+201C | U+201D | U+201E | U+00AB | U+00BB | |||
Left double quotation mark | Right double quotation mark | Double low-9 quotation mark | Left-pointing double angle quotation mark | Right-pointing double angle quotation mark | |||
Single | ‘ | ’ | ‚ | Single | ‹ | › | |
U+2018 | U+2019 | U+201A | U+2039 | U+203A | |||
Left single quotation mark | Right single quotation mark | Single low-9 quotation mark | Single left-pointing angle quotation mark | Single right-pointing angle quotation mark |
The character ’ (U+2019 Right single quotation mark) doubles up as the typographically correct apostrophe.
Quotation marks should not be confused with the characters below, which can look similar.
▪ Typewriter quotation marks (see Compatibility)
' U+0027 Apostrophe " U+0022 Quotation mark
▪ Non-preferred characters (see Compatibility)
‛ U+201B Single high-reversed-9 quotation mark ‟ U+201F Double high-reversed-9 quotation mark
▪ Mathematical symbols (see Basics)
< U+003C Less-than sign > U+003E Greater-than sign
▪ Measurement units (see Basics)
′ U+2032 Prime ″ U+2033 Double prime
▪ Diacritics and accents (see Diacritics)
´ U+00B4 Acute accent ` U+0060 Grave accent ˝ U+02DD Double acute accent
The decimal separator can be either a full stop or a comma. Commas are more noticeable, as they are larger and extend below the baseline. In addition, a comma marks a pause or break, whereas a full stop usually indicates an end. This logic also makes the comma more suitable as decimal mark. Most European languages use the comma as decimal separator. Modern international standards allow either character as the decimal mark (U+002C Comma; U+002E Full stop).
Numbers with many digits before or after the decimal mark are often divided into groups, using a delimiter. This makes reading and understanding numbers much easier, as all European languages use a positional notation system based on the number 1 000 for spoken numbers. Additionally, this works nicely with the prefixes of our measuring system, such as milli-, kilo, mega-, etc., which are also based on the number 1 000. That’s why long numbers are usually arranged into groups of three digits, both before and after the decimal mark (for example 1 234 567 890,123 45).
Historical practice employed many different characters as digit group separators, for example full stops, commas and apostrophes. This caused misunderstandings in international communication, especially as some of these characters were also used as decimal mark. Modern international standards recommend a thin space, which avoids any confusion, and is language-independent. This solution also works with both decimal markers, comma and full stop. Good typography uses this digit group separator for long numbers, out of courtesy to the reader, for the sake of clarity and well-balanced visual impression.
The best space to use for this purpose is U+202F Narrow no-break space. This also guarantees that the number is not split at automated line breaks. If the narrow no-break space is not available, U+00A0 No-break space, U+0020 Space or omitting the digit group separator altogether can be alternatives.
Standard computer keyboards provide only one centred horizontal line character, the U+002D Hyphen-minus. Unfortunately, this hybrid character has to be a compromise in design. The typographically correct minus sign has the same length and position as the vertical bar of the plus sign and has the character code U+2212 Minus sign.
Correct (minus sign) +12 − 14 = −2
Wrong (hyphen-minus) +12 - 14 = -2
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