Punctuation for Pauses or Breaks

Ms. Peay 8th grad ELA

An ellipsis()
An ellipsis () appears when a speaker trails off in the middle of a sentence. Ex: I wonder where I put that, Raj muttered to himself, lost in thought.

A dash (--)
A dash () shows a very sudden break in thought or speech. Ex: I hate storms! They make she stopped when a burst of lightning struck. A pair of dashes can also be used to set off part of a sentence that includes additional information. Ex: All four of his friendsCarlos, Max, Louise, and Annatook the train to his house.

A comma (,)
A comma (,) can be used in pairs to set off part of a sentence that names or restates what has just come before. EX: San Francisco, a city in California, has banned plastic grocery bags.