I know I can get these fancy quotes
`abc'
I want to get those quotes separately. I know how to get the left one:
{`}a
But when I try just the right one, I get a different quote then when used together:
abc{'}
How can I get the right curved one alone in math mode?
I am using pdflatex.
In math mode ' produces a prime; to get the closing quotation mark in math mode you can use \text from amsmath:
\documentclass{book}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\begin{document}
$abc' \quad abc{\text{'}}$
\end{document}
In math mode, typing ' is equivalent to typing ^{\prime}, '' to ^{\prime\prime} and so on.
If you need “real” quotes in math mode, you have to define a math character for them. Typing ` is not guaranteed to give the desired result.
You can define
\DeclareMathSymbol{\mlq}{\mathord}{operators}{``}
\DeclareMathSymbol{\mrq}{\mathord}{operators}{`'}
Complete example:
\documentclass{article}
\DeclareMathSymbol{\mlq}{\mathord}{operators}{``}
\DeclareMathSymbol{\mrq}{\mathord}{operators}{`'}
\DeclareMathSymbol{\mlqq}{\mathord}{operators}{"5C}
\DeclareMathSymbol{\mrqq}{\mathord}{operators}{`"}
\begin{document}
$\mlq a\mrq$
$\mlqq a\mrqq$
\end{document}
See https://tex.stackexchange.com/a/161253/4427 for a similar setup, but in that case relations were concerned.
`abc'? – egreg Mar 4 '14 at 14:39\usepackage{amsmath}and$abc{\text{'}}$. – Gonzalo Medina Mar 4 '14 at 14:45