Can you put dash in a dialogue?

To show an interruption of the spoken words, include an em dash inside the quotation marks, at the point where the dialogue is interrupted. The format is the same as interrupting the dialogue; the dialogue goes between the quotation marks and dashes separate the action from the dialogue.

How do you punctuate dialogue with dashes?

Enclose the first part of the dialogue in quotation marks but omit the comma. Follow the end quotation mark with an em dash and the action or thought and then another em dash. Resume the dialogue with another opening quotation mark, complete the dialogue, and end with a period and a closing quotation mark.

What can I use instead of quotation marks?

Commas and periods always go inside the quotation marks in American English; dashes, colons, and semicolons almost always go outside the quotation marks; question marks and exclamation marks sometimes go inside, sometimes stay outside.

How do you use dashes in writing?

Use dashes to set off an idea or an appositive within a sentence. A dash (—) is a punctuation mark used to set off an idea within a sentence and may be used alone or in pairs. Dashes interrupt a thought in a more dramatic way than a phrase enclosed in commas, but less theatrically than parentheses.

How do you use dashes?

Dashes

1. To set off material for emphasis. Think of dashes as the opposite of parentheses.
2. To indicate sentence introductions or conclusions.
3. To mark “bonus phrases.” Phrases that add information or clarify but are not necessary to the meaning of a sentence are ordinarily set off with commas.
4. To break up dialogue.

How do you use dialogue in a quote?

Use quotation marks to show that you are writing the exact words that someone said or wrote. “Finally.” My mother rose to her feet. “Your father is home.” Use single quotation marks to enclose a quotation within a quotation.

Can I use single quotation marks to emphasize a word?

Quotation marks around single words can occasionally be used for emphasis, but only when quoting a word or term someone else used. If a word needs to be emphasized but is not being quoted, you should avoid putting the word in quotes and use italics instead.

When should you use a dash in a sentence?

Use dashes to mark the beginning and end of a series, which might otherwise get confused, with the rest of the sentence: Example: The three female characters—the wife, the nun, and the jockey—are the incarnation of excellence. Dashes are also used to mark the interruption of a sentence in dialogue: Example: “Help!

What is the purpose of a long dash in a paragraph?

It’s useful by freeing up the quotation mark for paraphrases, figurative expressions and inner quotes, while the long dash takes care of all dialogue needs and makes it really stand out from normal paragraphs.

How do you interrupt a dialogue in an essay?

If the dialogue is abruptly interrupted by another speaker or event, use an em dash (with no spaces around it) between the final word and the quotation mark. Start a new line for the interruption. Ex: He gripped his red pen.

What is the difference between an em dash and an en dash?

The term traditionally comes from the width of the capital letter M in cold metal type and is a consistent width to size of the font being used. eg in a 12 point font, the em dash width would be 12 points. An en dash is the width of a capital letter N, or approximately half that of the em dash.

How do you punctuate the dialogue in attribution tags?

If the dialogue is interrupted midsentence by an attribution tag AND a separate but simultaneous action in “-ing” form, use a comma between the tag and action, and punctuate the rest as in example #4. Ex: “How on earth,” he said, shaking his fists, “do I punctuate this?”