Unit 6 - English - Comma, Dash, Ellipsis

Front

What is a comma?

Back

A punctuation mark (,) used to indicate a pause between parts of a sentence or to separate items in a list.

Front

What is a dash?

Back

A punctuation mark (—) used to indicate a break in thought or to set off a phrase for emphasis.

Front

What is an ellipsis?

Back

A series of three dots (...) indicating the omission of words or a trailing off of thought.

Front

How do you use commas in a list?

Back

Commas are used to separate items in a list, e.g., "I bought apples, oranges, and bananas."

Front

When should you use a dash in a sentence?

Back

Use a dash to create emphasis or to indicate an abrupt change in thought, e.g., "I was going to—wait, what was I saying?"

Front

How do you punctuate dialogue correctly?

Back

Use a comma before the closing quotation mark when the dialogue is followed by a tag, e.g., "I love reading," she said.

Front

What is the rule for using commas before conjunctions?

Back

Use a comma before conjunctions (and, but, or) when connecting two independent clauses, e.g., "I wanted to go, but it was raining."

Front

How do you add commas in complex sentences?

Back

Use commas to separate clauses or phrases that are not essential to the meaning of the sentence, e.g., "Although it was late, we decided to continue."

Front

What is the purpose of an ellipsis in writing?

Back

An ellipsis indicates that something has been left out or that a thought is incomplete.

Front

How do you correct a sentence with missing commas?

Back

Identify where natural pauses occur in the sentence and insert commas accordingly, e.g., "Let's eat, Grandma!" vs. "Let's eat Grandma!"