A string is a set of characters inside double quotes (").
Example: "This is a string."
This example uses valid syntax:
accounts = load "Data";
opps = load "0Fcyy000000002qCAA/0Fcyy000000002WCAQ";
c = group accounts by 'Year', opps by 'Year';
d = foreach c generate opps.Year as 'Year';
e = filter d by Year == "2002";
note: Identifiers are either unquoted or enclosed in single quotation marks.