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Excel 2013 Averageif function - Quotation marks?

Trying to figure out the logic behind the usage of quotation marks inside of a function.
Can someone explain, or give me a link to an article that explains the logic behind using quotation marks.
=average(a1:a99,">9")

When do I need them? When do I not need to use them.

Missus Miss_Sellaneus

Are you sure that's not AVERAGEIF? If that was AVERAGEIF instead of AVERAGE, it would only use those cells which contain a value greater than 9.

brothertruffle880

ASKER

oh crap. yes. it is average if.
I'm trying to understand when to use the quotes and when NOT.
I'm trying to understand WHY sometimes I need to place quotes in an argument.
I know how the function works and I know how to use it. I'm just trying to figure out the logic of when I need quotation marks. Trying to understand the logic of the syntax of quotation marks. IT seems kind of random when you use or not use the quotation marks.

Missus Miss_Sellaneus

The only time you can omit the quotes is if you're matching on a number, not an expression and not text.

Here's an example with 3 different AVERAGEIF functions, highlighted in yellow:

1. =AVERAGEIF(A4:A10,"blue",B4:B10) matches on text
2. =AVERAGEIF(D4:D10,1,E4:E10) matches on the number 1
3. =AVERAGEIF(G4:G10,">=6",H4:H10) matches if greater than or equal to 6

ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION

crystal (strive4peace) - Microsoft MVP, Access

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brothertruffle880

ASKER

Thanks.

crystal (strive4peace) - Microsoft MVP, Access

you're welcome ~ happy to help

warm regards,
crystal

~ have an awesome day ~