{"id":128822,"date":"2013-05-20T12:00:55","date_gmt":"2013-05-20T19:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/heartifb.com\/?p=128822"},"modified":"2024-02-14T06:06:24","modified_gmt":"2024-02-14T14:06:24","slug":"grammar-basics-colons-ellipsis-and-dashes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/heartifb.com\/grammar-basics-colons-ellipsis-and-dashes\/","title":{"rendered":"Blogger Grammar Basics: Colons, Ellipses, and Dashes"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Last week I talked about grammar basics with periods, commas, and semi-colons, and this week I'm getting into the fun and fancy punctuation: colons, ellipses, and dashes. These get used often by bloggers, but they aren't always used correctly.\u00a0 I can be a bit of a grammar maverick at times and\u00a0 believe that knowing the rules helps you better break the rules.<\/p>\n
Colons are typically used in this formula: +: examples, lists, a quote, facts, or an explanation of what came before.<\/strong><\/p>\n You have a sentence, and after it you would find: examples, lists, a quote, facts, or an explanation of what came before.<\/p>\n In the semi-colon section, I used the following sentence as an example: Serena was excited she and Dan were pretending to date; she missed him and hoped to get back together.<\/em><\/p>\n An alternative of that would be, Serena was excited she and Dan were pretending to date: she missed him and hoped to get back together.\u00a0 <\/em>In this example, the explanation for why she was excited is shared after the colon.<\/p>\n Another version of its use (the list) would be,\u00a0Serena has dated so many babes on <\/em>Gossip Girl: Dan, Aaron, Gabriel, Carter, Colin, Nate, Tripp, Ben, and Steven. <\/em><\/p>\n (Plural: ellipses)<\/p>\n I'd bet money that the ellipsis is the most misused piece of punctuation next to the comma. Many use it to indicate a pause or transition in our thought, and that isn't incorrect. The ellipsis can very much be used to indicate that you haven't finished your thought or that you're trailing off into silence.<\/strong><\/p>\n Vanessa spent a lot of time fantasizing about who she hated more, Blair or Serena…<\/em><\/p>\n That being said, be sure not to overuse the ellipsis. It makes your voice and opinions seem weak and uncertain.\u00a0 If you are constantly questioning yourself or are uncertain in your opinions, it can cause readers to question your credibility, authority, and opinions.<\/p>\n You can also use an ellipsis if you're intentionally omitting out words or phrases<\/strong>.\u00a0 For example, an original Gossip Girl<\/em> Blair quote would be: Fashion is the most powerful art there is. It's movement, design and architecture all in one. It shows the world who we are and who we'd like to be. Just like your scarf shows the world you'd like to be a used car salesman.<\/em><\/p>\n With an ellipsis, the Blair quote becomes: Fashion is the most powerful art there is…. It shows the world who we are and who we'd like to be. Just like your scarf shows the world you'd like to be a used car salesman.<\/em><\/p>\n (It's worth noting that I used a four dot ellipsis in the above quote instead of a three dot ellipsis. The fourth dot represents that I'm not just omitting a few words, but a whole sentence. If you're just omitting a few words, use the three dot ellipsis.)<\/p>\nWhen to use an Ellipsis…<\/h3>\n
And when to use a Dash–<\/h3>\n