Four Reasons to Use Italics in Your Writing

A couple of posts ago, we talked about the distinction between quotation marks and italics. Italics are used when referring to  complete works  in text: movie titles, book titles, TV series titles, names of magazines and newspapers, works of art, and operas, Quotation marks are used for parts of those works, such as chapter titles, TV series episodes, magazine and newspaper articles, and short stories.

But there are other uses of italics as well.

1. Use italics when referring in text to words, letters, numbers, and symbols used as themselves.

• I spelled accommodate incorrectly on my essay.
• I always forget that there are two ms in accommodate.
• I put a 6 instead of an 8 in your address. 
• Please use the word and, not &, in your formal letters.

2. Use italics for uncommon foreign words and phrases in your writing. Many of these words and phrases have become common and do not require italics. Consult a style guide or dictionary.  These words and phrases are considered common: a la carte, alma mater, bona fide, chutzpah, en route, et al., etc., non sequitur, per annum, per diem, magnum opus, rendezvous, savoir faire, status quo, summa cum laude, vice versa. (This is not a complete list of common foreign words.) 

3. Italics are generally used by authors (usually in fiction or memoir) for a character’s thoughts — or internal dialogue —  versus quotation marks for actual dialogue.

• After I hung up the phone, I thought to myself, Does he really think I am that stupid? 

4. Use italics (sparingly) for emphasis. Do not use bold, all caps, or quotations marks around words or phrases you want to emphasize.

• I asked you to use the good forks, not these bent, tarnished ones!