Ellipses
An ellipses is a punctuation consisting of 3 dots.
What are ellipses used to do?
- Indicating the omission of a word from a sentence , a group of words from a longer quote, or a whole section out of a longer section
- Shorten a sentence
- Add a slight pass in the speech
- Show dramatic effect
- Add silence or add a pause
- Add an unfinished thought
Examples
- So…what happened?
- Um…I’m not sure that’s true.
- …sure.
- You went to the restaurant. And…?
- But I thought we were meeting on Tuesday…?
Dashes
A dash is formed by putting two hyphens together.
When are dashes used?
- indicate a break in thought
- Indicate a break in sentence structure
- Seperates two clauses
- Show hesitation
- Summarize or communicate addition information
Examples
- After eighty years of dreaming, the elderly man realized it was time to finally revisit the land of his youth—Ireland.
- Nettie—her chin held high—walked out into the storm.
- Books, paper, pencils—many students lacked even the simplest tools for learning in nineteenth-century America.
- Even the simplest tasks—washing, dressing, and going to work—were nearly impossible after I broke my leg.
- I—I don’t know what you’re talking about,” denied the politician.
Credits:
Created with images by chezbeate - "background texture wood"