Hyphens, Ellipses, Parenthesis,

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Hyphens, Ellipses, Parenthesis, Dashes

• The Brenham Writing Room
• Created by D. Herring

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Hyphen -

• A hyphen is used to
• 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.
• Write out numbers from twenty-one to ninety-nine.
• Seventy-five students turned in an essay.
• Show a word break at the end of a line.
• Only break between syllables. Ex stu-dent

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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
  couldnt afford. -Ms. Pickett
• Ms. Pickett told us, I knew that the places I
  wanted to go on vacation . . . I couldnt
  afford.
• When using ellipses, leave a space before and
  after each period.

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Parenthesis ( )

• Use parenthesis to set off extra information that
  is not essential.
• My dogs favorite toy (a stuffed alligator) is
  lying out in the yard.
• You should generally avoid using parenthesis in
  academic writing.

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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 examworth 15 of your final gradewill
  be next Thursday.
• There will be no make up examno exceptionsfor
  this course.