Dashes & Ellipses By: rachel lee & izabella perkiNs

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"

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