 Drama: April 19, 2023 Issue [#11900] |
This week: Ellipses, Dash, and Slash! Edited by: Lilli 🧿 ☕  
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Let’s eat kids.
Let’s eat, kids.
Punctuation saves lives!
~ Unknown
English is a difficult language. It can be understood through tough thorough thought though.
~ Unknown
When comforting the grammar police, I always say softly, “There, their, they’re.”
~ Unknown
Apostrophes can be so possessive.
~ Unknown |
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Ellipses, dashes, and slashes are marks that serve specific purposes.
Ready? Here we go!!!
 Ellipses
Ellipses are made up of three periods with spaces between them (. . .) and are used to indicate that material is missing within a sentence or passage.
 Use ellipses when a section has been omitted from a direct (word-for-word) quotation, whether the omission is a word, phrase, or several sentences.
Example:
The absurdity of the situation makes me ponder Hamlet's query "whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer . . . outrageous fortune."
Use ellipses to indicate a pause, hesitation, or unfinished thought.
Example:
The physician spoke softly, "The poor child is . . . was . . ."
Use a 4-period (closed) ellipsis at the end of a partial quote that is nonetheless a complete grammatical sentence (thus including a period at the end of a 3-period ellipsis).
Examples:
Original sentence:
I have that album in my own personal collection.
Partial quotation using a closed ellipsis:
I have that album . . . .
 Note: When used within a sentence, place a space before the first period and after the last period of ellipses. If a mark of punctuation occurs right before the ellipses in the sentence, include the punctuation and follow it with one space before the first period of the ellipses. Do not use ellipses to begin a quotation.
Dash
The dash (–) is used to set off additional material within a sentence, often in order to emphasize it, to set off appositives that contain commas, or to indicate missing words. Sometimes confused with the hyphen, a dash comes between words as a form of division, whereas a hyphen generally joins words or parts of words to indicate a connection.
When typing, use two hyphens together without spaces to form a dash. Do not put a space before or after the dash. Some word-processing programs have a mark called an em-dash (longer than a hyphen), which can be used with no space before or after it.
Use a dash to set off an interruption that is closely relevant to the sentence but not grammatically part of it, such as a list, illustration, restatement, summary, shift in thought or tone, or dramatic point.
Examples:
 I only know one person who wears that cologne–my father.
Three of the girls in my group–Susan, Melinda, and Carrie–refused to join the potluck.
My feelings for Jason–I am madly in love with him–will never change.
Note: Although they can be used in similar situations, the dash and parentheses serve slightly different purposes. The dash is intended to emphasize supplemental information, whereas parentheses tend to understate it.
Use a dash to set off appositives that contain commas. (An appositive is a noun or noun phrase that immediately follows and renames a noun or pronoun and is usually surrounded by commas.)
Example:
Learning the mechanics–the complex, detailed structural components–of the English language is very difficult because the rules are often so inconsistent.
Use a dash to indicate an abruptly unfinished thought or remark. Do not include a period or comma after the dash.
Example:
He is a wonderful provider, but–
"Please help me before I–" she cried.
Slash
The slash (/) is used to show a division between paired terms or between lines of poetry.
Use a slash to indicate that a choice can be made between paired or multiple terms. Do not use a space before or after the slash.
Examples:
Margaret is taking the course pass/fail.
I'm acting as the secretary/treasurer/social chairman since there are only two of us on the board.
Use a slash to indicate the division between lines of poetry quoted within a sentence. Add a space before and after the slash.
Example:
Wordsworth's lines, "There was a time when meadow, grove, and stream, / The earth, and every common sight, / To me did seem / Apparell'd in celestial light," begin one of his most beautiful poems.
Hope this helps! Until next time, happy punctuating! |
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Thank you for your comments and feedback from my last Drama Newsletter: "The Semicolon"
Sumojo  wrote:
Thank you so much for highlighting my Burning Issue story. I really appreciated it.
Cheers Sue
My pleasure, Sue!
Beholden  wrote:
Thank you very much for including my short story, Memory Calls, among your Editor's picks.
And much appreciation too for daring to write a newsletter on the subject of grammar and, especially, for starting with the much-neglected semi-colon, the darling of those undecided between a comma and a period!
Thank you! I'm happy to know you found the newsletter useful.
s  wrote:
I use the semi-colon a lot; I find it a very helpful bit of punctuation.
Just a quick extra bit - in UK/Australian English, when the semi-colon is used in a list, the list should be opened with a colon.
So, your example would be:
We visited: Washington D.C., in the spring; Ft. Lauderdale, FL, in the winter; and Phoenix, Arizona, in the middle of a very hot summer.
This is something I think readers should be aware of, another difference in US English and other forms of English.
Thank you, Steven. This information is definitely useful and interesting! |
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