What is a dash in dialogue? (2023)

How do you use dashes in between dialogue?

To create interrupted dialogue that everyone will recognize as such, use an em-dash where you want to end the dialogue. You create an em-dash by typing two hyphens, and most word processing programs will tie them automatically into the longer dash.

“I just need a second”—she double-clicked the file—“to open the right presentation.” Ellipses and em dashes can be used to add rhythm and realism to dialogue, but they can be distracting if too many of them pile up in quick succession. So use them judiciously.

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.

A dash is used to indicate an interruption in dialogue, to introduce a list of items, or to signal an explanation the writer wants to emphasize. Ellipses and dashes are not interchangeable, but the misuse of either and both is common. A dash is a highlighter. An ellipsis takes the place of missing words.

Dashes and parentheses indicate an “aside” to the point you are making in your sentence. Although sometimes considered interchangeable, each serves a specific purpose in your writing. Dashes interrupt your writing to insert an interjection or pause, while parentheses gently add information to your point.

A hyphen joins two or more words together while a dash separates words into parenthetical statements.

Using an em dash in place of a comma

Em dashes can be used in pairs to replace commas when writing a parenthetical or interruptive phrase. The dashes have a slightly more emphatic feel, making the reader focus on the information that is set inside the special marks.

Basically when a character is cut off in dialogue (or in some cases, even thoughts), you should indicate that with an em dash. If action interrupts a complete sentence of dialogue, you set it off by em dashes: "You said"--she wrenched open the car door--"that she would be safe!"

1. To set off material for emphasis. Think of dashes as the opposite of parentheses. Where parentheses indicate that the reader should put less emphasis on the enclosed material, dashes indicate that the reader should pay more attention to the material between the dashes.

Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (DASH), also known as MPEG-DASH, is an adaptive bitrate streaming technique that enables high quality streaming of media content over the Internet delivered from conventional HTTP web servers.

What is the importance of dashes?

Use dashes to set off an idea or an appositive within a sentence. A dash (—) is a punctuation mark used to set off an idea within a sentence and may be used alone or in pairs. Dashes interrupt a thought in a more dramatic way than a phrase enclosed in commas, but less theatrically than parentheses.

The dash functions almost as a colon does in that it adds to the preceding material, but with extra emphasis. Like a caesura (a timely pause) in music, a dash indicates a strong pause, then gives emphasis to material following the pause.

We can use double dashes to denote when a side of dialogue is 'interrupted' by lines of scene description, it continues over the scene description, then is 'picked up' in the next side of dialogue. An example from the opening page of The Apartment, written by Billy Wilder and I.A.L.

Dashes replace otherwise mandatory punctuation, such as the commas after Iowa and 2020 in the following examples: Without dash: The man from Ames, Iowa, arrived. With dash: The man—he was from Ames, Iowa—arrived.

Dashes are used to separate groups of words, not to separate parts of words like a hyphen does. (Learn more about the difference between a dash and a hyphen here). There are three forms of dashes: em, en, and the double hyphen. The most common types of dashes are the en dash (–) and the em dash (—).

The dash (—), also called the em dash, is the long horizontal bar, much longer than a hyphen. Few keyboards have a dash, but a word processor can usually produce one in one way or another.

A dash indicates a breaking-off of a train of thought, or an interruption in speech or thought by something else. It can also be used to indicate one or more missing letters or numbers. For example: Her final word.

Dashes can be used to add parenthetical statements or comments in much the same way as you would use brackets. In formal writing you should use the bracket rather than the dash as a dash is considered less formal. Dashes can be used to create emphasis in a sentence.

Use dashes when you want to enclose or set off something that deserves a lot of attention, is meant to interrupt your sentence, or already has commas or parentheses in it. Use commas to enclose things that belong firmly in the flow of your sentence.

There are actually three different types of dashes: the em-dash, the en-dash, and the 3-em dash. The em-dash can be used to replace parentheses, colons, and commas. Generally, using the em-dash makes the writing style more informal—as if you were writing to an old friend.

Is a dash a language technique?

The dash (—) is a mark of punctuation used to set off a word or phrase after an independent clause or a parenthetical remark (words, phrases, or clauses that interrupt a sentence).

There are two types of dashes: em dashes and en dashes. Both get their names from their length. An em dash is about as long as the letter "m" (—), whereas an en dash is only about half that length, or the length of the letter "n" (–).

: to look attractive in the clothes one is wearing He really cuts a dash in his new suit.

The Single Dash

The single dash is normally a feature of informal English and is used, especially in narrative, to create suspense or to indicate that what follows is. an afterthought or something to be emphasised –

Double dashes are used instead of commas (or parentheses) to interrupt a sentence. The phrase separated by dashes must be grammatically inessential, by which I simply mean that the sentence will still work without that phrase.

Basically, a single dash means that the following flags are single-character only, and generally means that more than one flag can be passed. See all other command line tools: ls -la grep -inr "asd" . The double dash connotes a single positional flag/argument to a command line tool.

They drill this information into students' heads: “Always begin dialogue on a new line.” The missing part is “from a new speaker.” The way dialogue appears on the page is a cue to the readers about who's talking. Every new line indicates a change of speaker.

The most common way to do this is with quotation marks. When a character speaks, use double quotation marks. If they quote someone else, use single quotation marks for the quote within their dialogue.

A compound modifier is made up of two or more words that work together to function like one adjective. When you connect words with the hyphen, you make it clear to readers that the words work together as a unit of meaning.

To punctuate, put a terminal punctuation—period, question mark, or exclamation point— at the end of the first paragraph. There is no closing quotation mark at the end of this paragraph. Begin the next paragraph with an opening quotation mark. Follow this pattern for as long as the dialogue and paragraphs continue.

What should be avoided in dialogue writing?

Dialogue tags stay outside the quotation marks, while the punctuation stays inside the quotation marks. Example: “There was blood everywhere,” Karen explained. If the dialogue tag comes before the dialogue, the comma appears before the first quotation mark. Example: Karen explained, “There was blood everywhere.”

Dialogue should be enclosed within quotation marks. Each new line of dialogue is indented, and a new paragraph should be started every time a new person is speaking.

The hyphen ‐ is a punctuation mark used to join words and to separate syllables of a single word. The use of hyphens is called hyphenation. Son-in-law is an example of a hyphenated word.

The hyphen ( ‐ ) is a punctuation mark used to join words. It is often confused with dashes ( –, —, ― ), which are longer and have different uses, and with the minus sign ( − ) which is also longer.

With dialogue ending a sentence, the period should stay within the quotation marks. This pertains to dialogue without parenthetical citation at the end of the sentence. John said, “It is a beautiful day today.”

Rule #1: Use Quote Marks and Commas

Surround your dialogue with quotation marks and end it with a comma before the last quote mark. End with the dialogue tag to identify the speaker. What is this? “This is my favorite dress,” said Sally.

Dialogue tags are always punctuated with a comma, unless the speech is interrupted and a new sentence begins with a capital letter (see example 5). Dialogue always starts with a capital letter, unless a sentence is interrupted by a tag or action and the same sentence then continues.