Use a backslash as such

"From time to \"time\"";

Backslashes are used in PHP to escape special characters within quotes. As PHP does not distinguish between strings and characters, you could also use this

'From time to "time"';

The difference between single and double quotes is that double quotes allows for string interpolation, meaning that you can reference variables inline in the string and their values will be evaluated in the string like such

$name = 'Chris';
$greeting = "Hello my name is $name"; //equals "Hello my name is Chris"

As per your last edit of your question I think the easiest thing you may be able to do that this point is to use a 'heredoc.' They aren't commonly used and honestly I wouldn't normally recommend it but if you want a fast way to get this wall of text in to a single string. The syntax can be found here: http://www.php.net/manual/en/language.types.string.php#language.types.string.syntax.heredoc and here is an example:

$someVar = "hello";
$someOtherVar = "goodbye";
$heredoc = <<<term
This is a long line of text that include variables such as $someVar
and additionally some other variable $someOtherVar. It also supports having
'single quotes' and "double quotes" without terminating the string itself.
heredocs have additional functionality that most likely falls outside
the scope of what you aim to accomplish.
term;
Answer from MoarCodePlz on Stack Overflow
Top answer
1 of 7
98

Use a backslash as such

"From time to \"time\"";

Backslashes are used in PHP to escape special characters within quotes. As PHP does not distinguish between strings and characters, you could also use this

'From time to "time"';

The difference between single and double quotes is that double quotes allows for string interpolation, meaning that you can reference variables inline in the string and their values will be evaluated in the string like such

$name = 'Chris';
$greeting = "Hello my name is $name"; //equals "Hello my name is Chris"

As per your last edit of your question I think the easiest thing you may be able to do that this point is to use a 'heredoc.' They aren't commonly used and honestly I wouldn't normally recommend it but if you want a fast way to get this wall of text in to a single string. The syntax can be found here: http://www.php.net/manual/en/language.types.string.php#language.types.string.syntax.heredoc and here is an example:

$someVar = "hello";
$someOtherVar = "goodbye";
$heredoc = <<<term
This is a long line of text that include variables such as $someVar
and additionally some other variable $someOtherVar. It also supports having
'single quotes' and "double quotes" without terminating the string itself.
heredocs have additional functionality that most likely falls outside
the scope of what you aim to accomplish.
term;
2 of 7
76

Use the addslashes function:

 $str = "Is your name O'Reilly?";

 // Outputs: Is your name O\'Reilly?
   echo addslashes($str);
🌐
PHP
php.net › manual › en › function.addslashes.php
PHP: addslashes - Manual
escapeshellarg($arg); ?> if you need to quote SQL strings it's <?php $sql.= "WHERE col = '".$mysqli->real_escape_string($str)."'"; ?> or <?php $sql.= "WHERE col = " .
Discussions

Best way to escape single quotes - PHP - SitePoint Forums | Web Development & Design Community
This apparently is the wrong way: $popupContent .= " "; Suggestions? More on sitepoint.com
🌐 sitepoint.com
0
September 1, 2016
Escape single quote in sql statement w/ php
Hello, I am using php / mysql to insert records into a table. I have an array of values (from a select statement) and i am looping through the array and running an insert statement. i am passing the value {$result[‘last’]} which contains a last name. When the last name has an apostrophe ... More on community.spiceworks.com
🌐 community.spiceworks.com
8
3
August 20, 2012
Escaping single quotes in text... - PHP Coding Help - PHP Freaks
I have a paragraph in a text in my data table column with apostrophes and heights, like, "He'll likely grow beyond 6'6"." I've tried addslashes($update), but it's not working. (At another time I thought I had something like that.) Is there something that will take care of it short of typing \ bef... More on forums.phpfreaks.com
🌐 forums.phpfreaks.com
April 5, 2020
php - Escape double quotes with variable inside HTML echo - Stack Overflow
For a variable inside a echo that contains HTML, where would I add slashes to escape the double quotes? Example: echo " "; This part: More on stackoverflow.com
🌐 stackoverflow.com
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TinyMCE
tiny.cloud › blog › php-escape
How to work with PHP escape quotes and characters | TinyMCE
December 7, 2023 - Master PHP escape sequences with our guide. Learn string escape basics, single vs double quote usage, and how to navigate heredoc syntax.
🌐
W3Schools
w3schools.com › php › php_string_escape.asp
PHP - Escape Characters
In PHP, an escape character is a backslash \ followed by the character you want to insert. An example of an illegal character is a double quote inside a string that is surrounded by double quotes:
🌐
SitePoint
sitepoint.com › php
Best way to escape single quotes - PHP - SitePoint Forums | Web Development & Design Community
September 1, 2016 - This apparently is the wrong way: $popupContent .= " "; Suggestions?
🌐
Spiceworks
community.spiceworks.com › programming & development
Escape single quote in sql statement w/ php - Programming & Development - Spiceworks Community
August 20, 2012 - Hello, I am using php / mysql to insert records into a table. I have an array of values (from a select statement) and i am looping through the array and running an insert statement. i am passing the value {$result[‘last’]} which contains a last name. When the last name has an apostrophe ...
Find elsewhere
🌐
MojoAuth
mojoauth.com › escaping › php-string-escaping-in-php
PHP String Escaping in PHP | Escaping Methods in Programming Languages
In PHP, string escaping typically involves using a backslash (``) before special characters. Here are some common special characters that can be escaped: Single Quote: \' – Used within single-quoted strings.
🌐
PHP Freaks
forums.phpfreaks.com › php coding › php coding help
Escaping single quotes in text... - PHP Coding Help - PHP Freaks
April 5, 2020 - I have a paragraph in a text in my data table column with apostrophes and heights, like, "He'll likely grow beyond 6'6"." I've tried addslashes($update), but it's not working. (At another time I thought I had something like that.) Is there something that will take care of it short of typing \ bef...
🌐
Lucidar
lucidar.me › en › web-dev-class › lesson-4-06-php-quotes
Lesson 4.6. PHP quotes | Lulu's blog
September 17, 2022 - Note that when tables with indexes are encapsulated in strings, they must be escaped with curly brackets as on the following example: ... <?php $variable = 4; $table = array (10,20,30); // Display $variable (single quotes) echo 'Variable: $variable\n'; // Display 4 (double quotes) echo "Variable: $variable\n"; // Display 20 (table with double quotes and curly brackets) echo "Table: {$table[1]}\n"; ?>
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BUSoft Technologies
busofttech.com › home › php escape quotes how to do it right?
PHP Escape Quotes: How to Do It Right | BUSoftTech
March 10, 2026 - The main difference between double quotes and single quotes is that by using double quotes, you can include variables directly within the string. It interprets the escape sequences. Each variable will be replaced by its value. ... <?php // A Simple String echo “I am a developer.”; echo “\n”; Echo “it will be interesting to know about the string.”; Echo “\n”; //variables are included directly $string = ‘abc’; echo “the word is $string”; ?>
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Quora
quora.com › Which-is-recommended-for-PHP-single-or-double-quotes
Which is recommended for PHP, single or double quotes? - Quora
Answer (1 of 8): Double quotes uses more processing power than single quotes, so they should only be used when needed - when you have to evaluate a variable inside the quotes. (The PHP processor will scan what’s inside double quotes, even if there’s nothing to evaluate.
🌐
YouTube
youtube.com › watch
A Quick Look at Single and Double Quotes in PHP - YouTube
📃 In this quick video, we'll touch on the concept of how to use single and double quotes in PHP. These are very common characters used in formatting text in...
Published: October 19, 2022
🌐
Reddit
reddit.com › r/phphelp › single and double quotes are killing me
r/PHPhelp on Reddit: Single and double quotes are killing me
October 12, 2024 - Scenario 1 - When you render any data with quotes and you put them inside value="" attribute (or href), you should use htmlspecialchars FUNCTION. If href attribute you use urlencode FUNCTION. Scenario 2 - When you render inside <textarea>, no need htmlspecialchars. Scenario 3 - What ever you input from the forms, it should be identical inside the database. That's the ultimate goal. Scenario 4 - If custom SQL, with string as part of conditions or inputs, it is recommended to use escape functions, to prevent injection.
🌐
Narkive
php.general.narkive.com › dNCJ2EKq › how-do-i-just-escape-double-quotes-within-a-string
how do I just escape double quotes within a string?
How are you?'; var_dump($string); ... double quotes in the same string. ... Permalink You could use addslashes(): http://us3.php.net/manual/en/function.addslashes.php Or, the code you mentioned below, could be rewritten like: str_replace("\"","\\"",$code); or str_replace('"','\"',$code); And if you're doing it for a MySQL query call, then you want to use mysql-real-escape-string() instead ...
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CodeBasics
code-basics.com › programming › php course › quotes
CodeBasics | Quotes | PHP
In this case, to keep PHP from confusing the quotes inside the string with the outer ones, the escape character, the backslash \, is used.
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Itsourcecode
itsourcecode.com › home › php escape quotes with detailed explanation
PHP Escape Quotes With Detailed Explanation - Itsourcecode.com
November 17, 2022 - The special case allows you to display a literal (single-quote), then it will escape with a backslash (\) and in some instances that you want to display a backslash, you can easily escape it with an additional backslash(\\). ... <?php // characters ...
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GeeksforGeeks
geeksforgeeks.org › php › what-is-the-difference-between-single-quoted-and-double-quoted-strings-in-php
What is the difference between single-quoted and double-quoted strings in PHP? - GeeksforGeeks
April 10, 2022 - The special case is that if you to display a literal single-quote, escape it with a backslash (\) and if you want to display a backslash, you can escape it with another backslash (\\). Below program illustrates the Single-quoted Strings: ... ...