Ellipsis & Em Dash Usage Guide

Ellipsis (…)

An ellipsis (…) indicates a trailing off at the end of a statement.
Use sparingly—only when a speaker intentionally leaves their thought incomplete.
Example:

An em dash (—) signifies a break in thought, interruptions, or abrupt changes in speech.
Do not insert spaces before or after the em dash.

Use an em dash to show a sudden shift in a speaker’s sentence.

They tried bribing and even demanding cooperation from their staff—all of whom were swamped with other work—before they gave up and wrote the report themselves.
After they wrote the report, they discovered—actually, they weren’t able to complete it for several months.

If one speaker interrupts another, follow these rules:

Use an em dash (—) at the point of interruption.
When the first speaker resumes speaking after being interrupted, start their sentence with a hyphen (-) followed by a space, and do not capitalize the first word.

Interviewee: What I was saying is that—

Interviewer: Let’s move to the next topic.

Interviewee: -it’s not a good idea to promote.

When multiple interruptions occur, minimize breaks for better readability.

Short interruptions should be combined into a more concise and readable format.

Spoken:	Typed as:
Interviewee: Can I say that—Interviewee: That’s— Interviewee: -I don’t— Interviewee: -not— Interviewee: -agree? Interviewee: -what I said.	Interviewee: Can I say that I don't agree? Interviewee: That’s not what I said.

If a recording begins in the middle of a sentence, use an em dash (—) at the start of the paragraph to show that speech was cut off.
Do not use an ellipsis (…) in this case.