Skip to main content

How to add Quotes to a String in Python

Adding quotes to strings in Python is a common task for formatting output, preparing data, and creating specialized strings.

This guide will explore several methods for enclosing strings within single or double quotes, including techniques for escaping, and joining lists of strings with quotes.

Adding Quotes by Alternating Quotation Marks​

The simplest method for adding quotes is to alternate between single and double quotes. To add double quotes to a string, wrap the string in single quotes, and vice versa.

result_1 = '"apple"' # Double quotes around the string "apple"

result_2 = "'orange'" # Single quotes around the string "orange"
print(result_1) # Output: "apple"
print(result_2) # Output: 'orange'

This is the most readable way to create a simple string with quotation marks.

Adding Quotes Around Variables with f-strings​

Formatted string literals (f-strings) provide an efficient way to add quotes around variables.

my_str = 'hello world'
result_double = f'"{my_str}"' # Double quotes around the variable
print(result_double) # Output: "hello world"

my_str = "hello"
result_single = f"'{my_str}'" # Single quotes around the variable
print(result_single) # Output: 'hello'

By alternating between single and double quotes, you can easily enclose a variable within quotation marks.

Escaping Quotes with Backslashes​

You can also use backslashes (\) to escape quotation marks within a string. This lets you use the same type of quote as the string delimiters.

result_1 = "\"apple\"" # Escaping double quotes
result_2 = '\'orange\'' # Escaping single quotes

print(result_1) # Output: "apple"
print(result_2) # Output: 'orange'
note

While this technique is available, alternating quotation marks is generally considered more readable for simpler use cases. Escaping is more useful in situations with complex strings, e.g. JSON strings.

Using Triple-Quoted Strings​

Triple-quoted strings, delimited by either ''' or """, allow you to include both single and double quotes without escaping, and allow you to define multiline strings without explicit newlines:

example = '''
    It's Alice
    "hello"
'''
print(example)

output:

    It's Alice
    "hello

Printing Variables Inside Quotes with str.format()​

The str.format() method provides an alternative way to print variables inside quotes.

variable = 'tutorialreference.com'
result = '"{}"'.format(variable)
print(result) # Output: "tutorialreference.com"

The {} is replaced with the passed in argument to the format() method.

Joining a List of Strings with Quotes​

To join a list of strings while wrapping each string in quotes, use a generator expression with str.join() and an f-string.

my_list = ['one', 'two', 'three']
my_str = ', '.join(f'"{item}"' for item in my_list)
print(my_str) # Output: "one", "two", "three"

my_str_spaces = ' '.join(f'"{item}"' for item in my_list)
print(my_str_spaces) # Output: "one" "two" "three"

my_str_no_separator = ''.join(f'"{item}"' for item in my_list)
print(my_str_no_separator) # Output: "one""two""three"

This example demonstrates how to use generator expression within str.join() in combination with f-strings.

Table of Contents