Hyphens Ellipses Parenthesis Dashes The Brenham Writing Room

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.