Single and double quotation marks.

Are the single and double quotation marks in the following sentence correct?

Dr. Lee recounted that when she asked the station staff member where she should have waited, “he merely shrugged and replied, 'I don’t speak English.'”

 

Um, no, Peg.

 

Why not?

 

Just cause the beginning quote should go after "replied." To indicate that someone is speaking.

 

it's technically correct, I get what you're going for
But it's a little confusing
I dont think its neccessary to quote Dr. Lee as saying "he merely shrugged...."
The narrator could describe Dr. Lee as saying he merely shrugged, without including it as a piece of dialogue:

Dr. Lee recounted that when she asked the station staff member where she should have waited, he merely shrugged and replied, "I don’t speak English."

 

Thank you. That makes sense.

 

Grammar and punctuation are about what kind of effect you are trying to make. Syntax speaks to who we are and the mysteries of life, while grammar speaks to the world of causality, beauty, and often asserts that everything must make sense, even when it doesn't. By adding quotes around the narrator's own actions, you confuse the identity of the narrator with themselves, as if they are struggling to remember what they did or whatever. So you can use the effect of adding extra punctuation in order to urge the reader to make inferences in syntax and to build the mood.

Sorry if that's confusing, but that's as simple as I can explain it, because English actually has two grammars and its all just so much bullshit logic to me.

 

Nope, the use of the quotation marks in that sentence are incorrect.