#Long em dash how to#
#Long em dash manual#

And when you do, place them around the interruption and outside the quotation marks of the dialogue. Just as a comma on its own isn’t enough to stand between independent clauses without causing a comma splice, a comma isn’t the right punctuation to interrupt dialogue. The comma separation isn’t a strong enough separator for this condition. One sentence can’t nest inside another when separated solely by a pair of commas. This is the same format used in the examples of an independent clause interrupting another independent clause. “I need to get to him before the police do”-at least I thought I did-“so he doesn’t think I abandoned him.” “I need to get to him before the police do,” at least I thought I did, “so he doesn’t think I abandoned him.” X

“She told me she did it”-Aurora pounded the table-“smiling the whole time.” “She told me she did it,” Aurora pounded the table, “smiling the whole time.” X Xīree helped her husband-he’s a doctor-break out of jail.įor the same reason we don’t interrupt independent clauses with other independent clauses using only a pair of commas, we don’t set off an action or thought that interrupts a sentence of dialogue (in lieu of a dialogue tag) with commas. The scarf was white, blue-it was a lovely robin’s egg blue-and yellow.īree helped her husband, he’s a doctor, break out of jail. The scarf was white, blue, it was a lovely robin’s egg blue, and yellow. Tara cried dramatically-her poodle joined in with a howl-for exactly three minutes. Tara cried dramatically, her poodle joined in with a howl, for exactly three minutes. Waldo chased after the car-I heard all the details later-until the Mazda reached the highway. Waldo chased after the car, I heard all the details later, until the Mazda reached the cross street. Her brother-he’s an intern at MTV-wants to move to California. Their example (they show the same example with parentheses in place of the dashes): Choose either a pair of dashes or a pair of parentheses instead.” “A pair of commas cannot be used to set off an interruptive element that is the equivalent of a grammatically complete sentence. The Writer’s Digest Grammar Desk Reference puts it this way: “Commas are not strong enough to set off a complete sentence interpolated within another dashes or parentheses are required.Īce-people who don’t know him well call him “Goody”-is aided by a natural sense of humor. A pair of commas simply isn’t sufficient for that purpose. There’s one drawback, however, to using commas with interruptors-they can’t be used to set off an independent clause inside another independent clause. Think of a snarky aside delivered by a first-person narrator. Those set off with parentheses are not as common in fiction as in nonfiction, but you can use parentheses for interruptors. Interruptions set off by commas and dashes are quite common in fiction. (See Dealing With Interruptions for more on interruptors.) We use a pair of commas, a pair of em dashes, or a pair of parentheses to set off the interruption midsentence. In some cases we can even interrupt with an independent clause. We can disrupt a sentence by adding an interruptor, a nonessential word, phrase, or dependent clause. If CMOS isn’t enough to convince you, let’s look at more information. There’s not much doubt regarding CMOS‘s recommendation for interruption of dialogue use dashes. “Someday he’s going to hit one of those long shots, and”-his voice turned huffy-“I won’t be there to see it.” If the break belongs to the surrounding sentence rather than to the quoted material, the em dashes must appear outside the quotation marks. An em dash or a pair of em dashes may indicate a sudden break in thought or sentence structure or an interruption in dialogue. In the seventeenth edition, 6.87, we find:Įm dashes for sudden breaks or interruptions.

#Long em dash manual#

The recommendation in The Chicago Manual of Style is quite clear. Yet many style and grammar resources show the same way to punctuate dialogue interruptions-mark off the interruption with a pair of dashes.

#Long em dash how to#

There’s confusion about how to format sentences and which punctuation to use when action interrupts dialogue. I’ve seen the topic addressed multiple times, without conclusion, in both writing forums and editing groups.

Many have the same questions about punctuating interrupted dialogue. Have you ever wondered how to punctuate dialogue that’s interrupted by an action? If so, you’re in good company. Apby Fiction Editor Beth Hill last modified April 17, 2018