Hi Josh,

If you need to include a translation of a quote alongside the original quote, you should place one straight after the other. So with a block quotation, present it in the usual way, with the citation placed at the end of the quote, then leave a blank line, and then present the translation in the same block quote format. You can include a note in parentheses after the translation saying “my translation” or similar. If you want to only include the translation, not the original text, then place the citation and the acknowledgement of translation in the same parentheses, e.g. “(Smith 21; my translation)”.

Regarding whether it’s necessary to include a translation at all, it may not be, but that will depend on the preferences of your university and your instructor. It’s best to check with your instructor about whether you need to include a translation or not.

Follow up: Is it necessary for me to translate the block quotation in my native language? Given that the person who will check my output is also fluent in English.

Hi Sarah,

The specifics depend on what citation style you’re following and where the quotation comes from. If it’s from a survey you conducted yourself, you’d usually just describe your methodology somewhere and state that that’s where quotations come from whenever you first want to quote from the survey. You might also include the full responses in an appendix, if appropriate, at which point you could reference them with a phrase like “(see appendix)”.

If it’s a survey you took from elsewhere, e.g. from a research database, you can usually create a reference for it listing the researcher(s) or organization responsible as the author. You can read more about citing surveys here (note that the formats shown there are specific to APA Style).

Hi Dan,

With block quoting, you don’t include quotation marks around the quote, it’s just marked as a quote by the indentation. If the quote marks are part of the original material you’re quoting, they should stay as they were in the original text (though be sure to close them at the end even if that’s not where they end in the original text).

Hopefully that answers your question.

Thank you!

John nervously opened the letter.
“Dear Mr. Jones,” it read.
“ You are the winner of…,etc, etc

Is there a quote mark only at the very end of the letter? Or at the beginning and end of each paragraph within the letter?

Thank you

Hi Louise,

Good question! If the part you quote is in quotation marks in the text (even if those quotation marks don’t start exactly where your quote does), you should indeed enclose the block quote in quotation marks. If the passage is ostensibly a quote, but no quotation marks are used in the text you’re quoting from, don’t use any quotation marks.