Use a Dash to Show a Sudden Break

Teach the dash sheets together, then the ellipsis sheets. Before a research essay, use Shorten Quotations With an Ellipsis so students can trim quoted evidence correctly.

Draw a dash where a speaker is cut off or a thought breaks in a mystery scene with Inspector Osei. The directions on the page read: Draw one dash in each item, right after the last word before the sudden break. If a speaker is cut off, the dash goes before the closing quotation mark. An answer key is included.

Yes, both. We made it for 8th grade punctuation, and it works the same at home or at school. At home, a student can work through it alone and then go over it with you, which shows quickly what is solid and what needs another look. In class it works as independent practice, homework or a warm-up, and you can print one copy or a full set.

Put three periods where words were cut, with a space before and after them, and make sure the shortened quotation keeps its meaning. If a whole sentence is cut, keep the period that ends the sentence before it. Shorten Quotations With an Ellipsis states these rules on the page.

Use a comma for a gentle pause that the grammar needs, such as after an opening phrase. Use a dash for a sharp break, when a speaker is cut off or a thought suddenly changes direction. Comma or Dash for a Pause? practices the choice in a game broadcast.

In dialogue, an ellipsis usually shows a speaker hesitating or trailing off. In a quotation from a text, it shows words that were left out. Students compare originals with quoted versions on Ellipses for Hesitation in Dialogue.