Dashes Hyphens and Ellipses

If you wanted to show a pause while writing a sentence, you would use_______.

• an ellipsis

• a dash

• a hyphen

Which sentence uses dashes correctly? Remember, you should be able to take the piece of the sentence with the dash/dashes out, and it should make perfect sense as a complete sentence.

• Against all odds, Eric the best player on the team broke-- his-- leg.

• Against all odds, Eric--the best player on the team--broke his leg.

If you have to OMIT or take out information from a sentence, you should use_______.

• an ellipsis (...)

• a dash

• a hyphen

If you had a compound word that you needed to separate, you would use_______.

• an ellipses (...)

• a dash (--)

• a hyphen (-)

If you had extra information to ADD to a sentence, you would use_______.

• an ellipsis (...)

• a dash or dashes (--)

• a hyphen (-)

If you wanted to show an unfinished thought while writing a sentence, you would use_______.

• an ellipsis (...)

• a dash

• a hyphen

If you wanted to show a separation of a list of ideas, you would use_______.

• an ellipsis

• a hyphen

• a dash

Which one correctly shows the omission of information? Think about which one makes the most sense as a complete sentence even with the missing information.

• “She studied elephants. . . and recognized how close-knit they are.”

• “She studied elephants . . . they are.”

Which sentence uses hyphens correctly?

• Our food bill last week was twenty five-dollars.

• Our food bill last week was twenty-five dollars.

The band meets at 3:30. . . . The orchestra meets at 4:00. . . . The choir meets at 6:00.

The ellipsis shows_________.

• a pause

• an unfinished thought

• separation of a list of ideas