diff --git a/extras/hoonSublime/hoon.YAML-tmLanguage b/extras/hoonSublime/hoon.YAML-tmLanguage
index b8196be06..15715205e 100644
--- a/extras/hoonSublime/hoon.YAML-tmLanguage
+++ b/extras/hoonSublime/hoon.YAML-tmLanguage
@@ -21,10 +21,12 @@ patterns:
 - comment: tape
   name: string.double.hoon
   begin: \"
+  patterns: [{match: '\\.|[^"]'}]
   end: \"
 - comment: cord
   name: string.single.hoon
   begin: \'
+  patterns: [{match: "\\\\.|[^']"}]
   end: \'
 - comment: arm
   name: constant.character.hoon
@@ -45,4 +47,4 @@ patterns:
   name: keyword.control.hoon
   begin: ';script(type "text/coffeescript")'
   end: '=='
-...
\ No newline at end of file
+...
diff --git a/extras/hoonSublime/hoon.tmLanguage b/extras/hoonSublime/hoon.tmLanguage
index be3db8f80..d50a5249b 100644
--- a/extras/hoonSublime/hoon.tmLanguage
+++ b/extras/hoonSublime/hoon.tmLanguage
@@ -50,6 +50,13 @@
 			<string>\"</string>
 			<key>name</key>
 			<string>string.double.hoon</string>
+			<key>patterns</key>
+			<array>
+				<dict>
+					<key>match</key>
+					<string>\\.|[^"]</string>
+				</dict>
+			</array>
 		</dict>
 		<dict>
 			<key>begin</key>
@@ -60,6 +67,13 @@
 			<string>\'</string>
 			<key>name</key>
 			<string>string.single.hoon</string>
+			<key>patterns</key>
+			<array>
+				<dict>
+					<key>match</key>
+					<string>\\.|[^']</string>
+				</dict>
+			</array>
 		</dict>
 		<dict>
 			<key>comment</key>