Transcript Hyphens, Ellipses, Parentheses, and Dashes

Hyphens, Ellipses,
Parenthesis, & Dashes
The Brenham Writing Room
Created by D. Herring
Hyphen •
A hyphen is used to
1. Join words that together form a
compound adjective placed before a
noun.
•
•
I have one sixteen-year-old student.
Michael Jackson had a very high-profile
court case.
2. Write out numbers from twenty-one to
ninety-nine.
•
Seventy-five students turned in an essay.
•
Only break between syllables. Ex: stu-dent
3. Show a word break at the end of a line.
Ellipses . . .
• Use ellipses to indicate that info has
been left out in a quotation.
– Original Passage: I knew that the places I
wanted to go on vacation, such as Hawaii
or Jamaica, I couldn’t afford. -Ms.
Pickett
– Ms. Pickett told us, “I knew that the
places I wanted to go on vacation . . . I
couldn’t afford.”
• When using ellipses, leave a space before and
after each period.
Parenthesis ( )
• Use parenthesis to set off extra
information that is not essential.
– My dog’s favorite toy (a stuffed alligator)
is lying out in the yard.
• You should generally avoid using
parenthesis in academic writing.
Dashes —
• A dash is created by hitting the
hyphen key twice.
• Do not put extra space around a dash.
• Use a dash to set off words for
emphasis or to indicate a pause.
– The final exam—worth 15% of your final
grade—will be next Thursday.
– There will be no make up exam—no
exceptions—for this course.