Review: Using Commas, Dashes, and Ellipses

"It looks like a real __________ oh no!"

• Comma

• Dash

• Ellipsis

Please grab your lacrosse stick______your jersey and your cleats_____ and meet me on the field in ten minutes.

• Ellipsis

• Comma

• Dash

Ghosts gathered______ goblins arrived_____ witches descended.

• Comma

• Ellipsis

• Dash

A(n) _____ is used to signal an interruption in dialogue AND used to emphasize breaks in thought & shifts in tone.

• comma

• dash

• ellipsis

A(n) ___ is used to set off direct quotations OR to separate 2 or more adjectives

• comma

• dash

• ellipsis

Which sentence uses DASHES correctly to explain a thought?

• If you need something, call my assistant Catherine — not Margaret and she’ll help you.

• If you need something, call my assistant—Catherine, not Margaret—and she’ll help you.

A comma is used to do all of the following except __. 

• to separate a subordinate clause from an independent clause at the start of a complex sentence
• to shorten a quoted passage by omitting words or phrases
• to separate items in a series or a list
• to combine 2 independent clauses joined with a coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS)

Which line of dialogue is written correctly?

• "I have made up my mind." She said, nodding. "I do not want to marry him."

• "I have made up my mind," she said, nodding. "I do not want to marry him."

Which quotation uses an ellipsis correctly to indicate Olive's incomplete thought?  

• “I can't stand . . . Olive."
• “I can’t stand that . . . girl." 
• “I can’t stand          that girl . . ."
• “I can’t stand that girl,” Olive said. “She’s so . . . I hate her.”

A reviewer wrote that the musical was "dazzling, colorful, beautifully performed, and had many outstanding special effects."

Which of the following shows how the author could correctly use an ELLIPSIS to shorten the quote?

• A critic wrote that the musical was "dazzling, colorful, and beautifully performed. . . ."

• A critic wrote that the musical was "dazzling, colorful, . . . and beautifully performed."