## Smart punctuation Open quotes are matched with closed quotes. The same method is used for matching openers and closers as is used in emphasis parsing: ```````````````````````````````` example "Hello," said the spider. "'Shelob' is my name." . <p>“Hello,” said the spider. “‘Shelob’ is my name.”</p> ```````````````````````````````` ```````````````````````````````` example 'A', 'B', and 'C' are letters. . <p>‘A’, ‘B’, and ‘C’ are letters.</p> ```````````````````````````````` ```````````````````````````````` example 'Oak,' 'elm,' and 'beech' are names of trees. So is 'pine.' . <p>‘Oak,’ ‘elm,’ and ‘beech’ are names of trees. So is ‘pine.’</p> ```````````````````````````````` ```````````````````````````````` example 'He said, "I want to go."' . <p>‘He said, “I want to go.”’</p> ```````````````````````````````` A single quote that isn't an open quote matched with a close quote will be treated as an apostrophe: ```````````````````````````````` example Were you alive in the 70's? . <p>Were you alive in the 70’s?</p> ```````````````````````````````` ```````````````````````````````` example Here is some quoted '`code`' and a "[quoted link](url)". . <p>Here is some quoted ‘<code>code</code>’ and a “<a href="url">quoted link</a>”.</p> ```````````````````````````````` Here the first `'` is treated as an apostrophe, not an open quote, because the final single quote is matched by the single quote before `jolly`: ```````````````````````````````` example 'tis the season to be 'jolly' . <p>’tis the season to be ‘jolly’</p> ```````````````````````````````` Multiple apostrophes should not be marked as open/closing quotes. ```````````````````````````````` example 'We'll use Jane's boat and John's truck,' Jenna said. . <p>‘We’ll use Jane’s boat and John’s truck,’ Jenna said.</p> ```````````````````````````````` An unmatched double quote will be interpreted as a left double quote, to facilitate this style: ```````````````````````````````` example "A paragraph with no closing quote. "Second paragraph by same speaker, in fiction." . <p>“A paragraph with no closing quote.</p> <p>“Second paragraph by same speaker, in fiction.”</p> ```````````````````````````````` Quotes that are escaped come out as literal straight quotes: ```````````````````````````````` example \"This is not smart.\" This isn\'t either. 5\'8\" . <p>"This is not smart." This isn't either. 5'8"</p> ```````````````````````````````` Two hyphens form an en-dash, three an em-dash. ```````````````````````````````` example Some dashes: em---em en--en em --- em en -- en 2--3 . <p>Some dashes: em—em en–en em — em en – en 2–3</p> ```````````````````````````````` A sequence of more than three hyphens is parsed as a sequence of em and/or en dashes, with no hyphens. If possible, a homogeneous sequence of dashes is used (so, 10 hyphens = 5 en dashes, and 9 hyphens = 3 em dashes). When a heterogeneous sequence must be used, the em dashes come first, followed by the en dashes, and as few en dashes as possible are used (so, 7 hyphens = 2 em dashes an 1 en dash). ```````````````````````````````` example one- two-- three--- four---- five----- six------ seven------- eight-------- nine--------- thirteen-------------. . <p>one- two– three— four–– five—– six—— seven—–– eight–––– nine——— thirteen———––.</p> ```````````````````````````````` Hyphens can be escaped: ```````````````````````````````` example Escaped hyphens: \-- \-\-\-. . <p>Escaped hyphens: -- ---.</p> ```````````````````````````````` Three periods form an ellipsis: ```````````````````````````````` example Ellipses...and...and.... . <p>Ellipses…and…and….</p> ```````````````````````````````` Periods can be escaped if ellipsis-formation is not wanted: ```````````````````````````````` example No ellipses\.\.\. . <p>No ellipses...</p> ````````````````````````````````