Why are smart quotes a problem in code?

JavaScript, Python, JSON, shell, and SQL all expect ASCII `"` and `'`. When you copy text from Word, Notion, or many CMSes it brings curly quotes along, which then break string literals with a confusing parse error. Round-tripping through this tool fixes it.

How does it know an apostrophe vs. a closing single quote?

When a `'` sits between two letters (`don't`, `world's`), it's almost always an apostrophe and gets the closing single quote glyph. Outside that pattern, the tool alternates open / close like a regular quotation.

What's special about French and German styles?

French uses guillemets with non-breaking inner spaces (`« hello »`). German uses low-9 open and high-9 close (`„hello“`). Both are correctly emitted; the straight-quote inverse strips the extra spacing back out.

Smart ↔ Straight Quote Converter

Turns `"plain"` and `'plain'` quotes into proper typographic ones (`“fancy”`, `‘fancy’`) — or the reverse, to make text safe to paste into code, JSON, or CLI commands. Apostrophes inside words (`it's`) are detected and emitted as the closing single quote, not an opening one. Style follows the chosen language: English curly, French guillemets `« »`, or German low-9 `„ “`.

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Style

Input

Output

“Knowledge is power” — Bacon’s old line, and it’s still true today.

She said ‘hi’ to me.

The apostrophe rule (`it's`, `world's`) is heuristic — review the output if your text has unusual punctuation.

How to use

Pick a direction: To Smart (publishing) or To Straight (code / data).
When going to Smart, choose the language so the right style is used.
Paste text in the input — the output updates as you type.

Frequently asked questions

Why are smart quotes a problem in code?: JavaScript, Python, JSON, shell, and SQL all expect ASCII `"` and `'`. When you copy text from Word, Notion, or many CMSes it brings curly quotes along, which then break string literals with a confusing parse error. Round-tripping through this tool fixes it.
How does it know an apostrophe vs. a closing single quote?: When a `'` sits between two letters (`don't`, `world's`), it's almost always an apostrophe and gets the closing single quote glyph. Outside that pattern, the tool alternates open / close like a regular quotation.
What's special about French and German styles?: French uses guillemets with non-breaking inner spaces (`« hello »`). German uses low-9 open and high-9 close (`„hello“`). Both are correctly emitted; the straight-quote inverse strips the extra spacing back out.

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