Comments | fandom_grammar: Grammar 101: Punctuation for Pauses, Omissions, and Parentheticals

theemdash in fandom_grammar

Grammar 101: Punctuation for Pauses, Omissions, and Parentheticals

Mar 27, 2009 09:00

In the previous punctuation post, skroberts discussed terminal punctuation-punctuation that ends sentences-and punctuation that is used to hang related thoughts together. In this post I'll be discussing punctuation that is used to give additional information, as in a parenthetical, punctuation that is used to pause or omit, and the almighty comma.

( Onward to Commas, Em Dashes, Ellipses, Parentheses, and Square Brackets )

clauses:parenthetical, punctuation:square bracket, grammar101, writing tips:style, punctuation, punctuation:parentheses, punctuation:commas, usage:punctuation, punctuation:em dash, punctuation:ellipsis, author:theemdash, !feature

Comments 6

sutlers March 27 2009, 18:59:42 UTC

Question! Which of these would you use to interrupt a sentence of dialogue with an action that is not a dialogue tag? Or is that just wrong, wrong, wrong, should never happen?

theemdash March 27 2009, 19:07:53 UTC

If the action isn't part of the dialogue tag, you should end the dialogue with a complete sentence and end that sentence with a period.

"I should have checked the Map." Harry rubbed his brow. "Now every time I close my eyes I see Dumbledore in his underwear."

If the action is part of the dialogue tag, you would use a comma as normal.

"I believe I've asked," Hakkai said, narrowing his eyes, "for you to be quiet."

I don't really recommend using that second option though, as it's interrupting the flow of the spoken sentence and can lead to clunky narrative. But in the right case, it can work.

If you need more information on interrupted dialogue, there's a whole answer dedicated just to that: Speech That Trails Off.

pathology_doc March 27 2009, 21:19:43 UTC

Excellent - thank you for this.

Shouldn't it be, "[T]he children Quetesh slew"?

campylobacter November 24 2009, 18:03:59 UTC

LOL Qetesh versus Buffy:

Buffy gladly slays sparkly vampires into barbecued slaw, having slain more than her fair share of trite, boring characters who variously slew vampire convention.

theemdash November 24 2009, 18:13:59 UTC

Sorry it took me this long to get around to this-your question completely slipped my mind.

"Slayed" is a word when used in slang like, "I slayed the audience." But you're right, in this case it should be slew.

ext_2559257 April 30 2014, 00:31:56 UTC

What if you use an apostrophe at the beginning of a sentence to replace a letter?
For example,
"'kay," she agreed.

It's a nine tear old girl speaking and they often omit the "o" in okay. Should the k be capitalized because it's at the beginning of the sentence?