Writer’s Digest Grammar Desk Reference states the em dash “is the most dramatic punctuation mark you can deploy within the interior of a sentence. “Say yes,” John finished Mickey’s sentence. Use the em dash in dialog when you want to indicate an interruption. His marriage proposal got caught in his throat before he began-would she say no? The em dash can also be used in as a single dash. In other words, it stands out as the most important part of the sentence. When used in pairs, the portion set off by the em dash gets the most emphasis. His marriage proposal-would she say no?-got caught in his throat before he began. Word processing programs will often autoformat it for you so it appears as one long dash as it should. This dash is so named because it is about the same width as the letter “m.” You create it by using two dashes together without any space between. The em dash indicates a dramatic shift in tone or thought within a sentence. Never omit words that will change the meaning of the source being cited. lose 37% of their paycheck to taxes.” In this example, the ellipsis indicates the mayor spoke something more in between “citizens” and “lose” that was irrelevant to the quoter’s purpose. The mayor said that “the working citizens. no to my marriage proposal?”Īn ellipsis is also used to show that one or more words have been omitted from a direct quote. ) indicates in dialog that the speaker hasn’t finished his or her words, or shows a pause in the dialog. So today, let’s take a look at the ellipsis and the em dash-two punctuation marks that get misused and often over used. As much as some might hate it, correct punctuation is critically important to your submission.
I’m not talking about a missing comma here and there, but flagrant incorrect punctuation. But we must face the reality: incorrect punctuation raises a red flag for editors and makes them more inclined to toss your submission into the trash. Punctuation is an aspect of English with which many writers struggle.