Em-dashes and interrupting one’s own dialogue within the same quote?
Asked by: Derek Distler
To show an interruption of the spoken words, include an em dash inside the quotation marks, at the point where the dialogue is interrupted. “I knew you’d drop it.” And to give you one more component to consider, I’ll add that we can even interrupt an action with dialogue.
Do you use an em dash for interruption?
Use an em dash (the longer dash symbol) to indicate an interruption or an abrupt change in thought or to insert supplemental information. If the interruption or insertion comes in the middle of a sentence, add a closing dash to signal the end of the interruption.
How do you punctuate dialogue within dialogue?
Use single quotes when using a quotation in your dialogue
You should put punctuation inside the single quotes like you would for standard quotation marks. If the quote is at the end of the dialogue, the punctuation goes inside the single quote and there is no space between the single and double quotation marks.
What does a dash mean in dialogue?
Dashes create urgency. Just like in narrative, dashes can be used in dialogue to set off clauses within sentences. But the most important use of dashes in dialogue is to show one speaker interrupting another. The following example from Toni Morrison’s Beloved shows both uses: “Nothing bad can happen to her.
How do you write a cut off dialogue?
Dialogue abruptly cut off
When dialogue is cut off—the character is being choked or something suddenly diverts his attention or another character interrupts him—use an em dash before the closing quotation mark.
What is the sentence of interrupted?
Interrupted sentence example. A ringing telephone interrupted us. Jonathan’s voice interrupted her thoughts. A knock at the door interrupted their conversation.
How do you interrupt a quote?
Dumb rule 3: In a sentence with an interrupted quotation, the comma is inside the quotation marks for the first half of a quotation. Dumb rule 4: In a sentence with an interrupted quotation, the speaker tag is followed by a comma before the quotation marks.
How do you use dashes in 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. “I knew you’d drop it.”
Do you capitalize he said after dialogue?
Dialogue with a dialogue tag
Example: “I want coffee,” she said. The dialogue tag ‘she said’ is not capitalized because it’s part of the same sentence as the dialogue. You can also put the dialogue tag before the dialogue. When you do this, a comma goes after the ‘said’ verb and before the quotation marks.
What do em dashes do?
Em dashes can be used in pairs to mark off additional information that is not essential to understand the sentence. Here they function similarly to parentheses or a pair of commas. An em dash is usually written without spaces on either side, although some style guides do recommend using spaces.
What does a em dash mean?
The Em Dash: An Introduction
Like commas and parentheses, em dashes set off extra information, such as examples, explanatory or descriptive phrases, or supplemental facts. Like a colon, an em dash introduces a clause that explains or expands upon something that precedes it.
How do you use an em dash in a sentence?
The em dash can be used in place of a colon when you want to emphasize the conclusion of your sentence. The dash is less formal than the colon. After months of deliberation, the jurors reached a unanimous verdict—guilty. The white sand, the warm water, the sparkling sun—this is what brought them to Fiji.
What is an em dash in word?
You can insert an em dash or en dash in a Microsoft Word document using the Insert Symbol command or by using keyboard shortcuts. An em dash is a long dash which is the width of the letter m. An en dash is the width of the letter n. The dashes appear as follows: Em dash (—)
How do you make an em dash and en dash in Word?
To insert an en-dash in your document, hold down the Alt key and type 0150 on the numeric keypad; an em-dash is produced by holding down the Alt key and typing 0151. Another way to insert the dashes is to use the minus key on the numeric keypad.
How do I type em dash?
How to type an em dash on Windows
- Hold the Alt key. …
- Now type “0151” on the num pad. …
- A clunkier method, but one that works with any keyboard, is to use the Windows 10 emoji keyboard. …
- Click the right-most tab with the omega (Ω) symbol on it. …
- Scroll down until you find the em dash symbol (—).
How do you make an em dash in Word on a laptop?
less simple: you need to use an alt code to get an em dash. If you have a numeric keyboard, hold down the Alt key and type 0151 for an em dash or 0150 for an en dash.
How do I type an em dash in Windows without a numpad?
Hold down one of the Alt keys and type on the numeric keypad: 0150 for an en dash or 0151 for an em dash. The dash appears when you release the Alt key. On a keyboard with no numeric keypad, use a Fn (Function) key combination to type the numbers.
How do you create an em dash in Outlook?
following methods to enter a dash:
- Press [Ctrl]+[Alt]+- to. enter an em dash. …
- Hold down the [Alt] key. and type 0151 on the numeric keypad to enter an em dash. …
- Click the Insert tab, click Symbol in the Symbols group, and then click More Symbols.
How do you type an em dash on a Chromebook?
If you use a Chrome OS device, you can insert both an em dash and en dash without taking your hands away from the keyboard. Press Shift-Ctrl-U, type the numbers 2014 (one by one), and press spacebar. You’ll see an em dash (Figure C). For an en dash, try the same sequence, but use the numbers 2013.
How do you make an em dash on iPhone?
The easiest way to type an em dash on the iOS keyboard is to hold down the hyphen key. First, hit the 123 button on the keyboard to show the hyphen (assuming you’re on an iPhone). Then hold down the – (hyphen) key to reveal a row of options above the key and select the longest dash for an em dash.