L.8.2: Commas, Ellipses and Dashes for Pauses, Breaks and Omissions, and Spelling
In plain English: L.8.2 is the Common Core grade 8 ELA standard that asks students to use standard capitalization, punctuation and spelling when they write. Students use commas, ellipses and dashes to show a pause or a break, use an ellipsis to show that words were left out of a quotation, and spell words correctly.
Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
a.Use punctuation (comma, ellipsis, dash) to indicate a pause or break.
b.Use an ellipsis to indicate an omission.
c.Spell correctly.
Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy · Domain: Language Standards · Cluster: Conventions of Standard English · Official standard
Students learn how three punctuation marks change the way a sentence sounds. A comma shows a short, ordinary pause, for example after an opening word or around the name of a person being spoken to. An ellipsis (three periods in a row) shows a speaker hesitating or trailing off. A dash, the long line that is wider than a hyphen, shows a sudden break: a thought that stops short, an interruption, or added words that need emphasis.
The ellipsis has a second job: in a quotation, it shows that the writer has left out words from the original. Students learn to cut words without changing the author's meaning and to keep a sentence's period before an ellipsis. The main part of the standard also covers capital letters and spelling, so students edit two invented drafts and practice four spelling rules. The reading is a scene from E. Nesbit's The Railway Children (1906), in which a frightened girl tries to explain herself to two railway workers.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
Use commas to show a short pause after opening words, before and after names in direct address, and before added words
Choose between an ellipsis (hesitation or trailing off) and a dash (sudden break or interruption) and explain the choice
Use an ellipsis to show an omission in a quotation without changing the author's words or meaning
Spell words correctly by applying rules for silent e, final y, ie and ei, and suffixes
Edit a draft for capital letters, punctuation and spelling
Prior Knowledge Required
Students should already be comfortable with:
Commas and quotation marks for dialogue and quotations from a text L.4.2
Commas, parentheses and dashes to set off extra information L.6.2
A comma between coordinate adjectives, and correct spelling L.7.2
Capital letters for proper nouns such as names of people, places and days
"Read model sentences 1, 2 and 3 aloud. The words are almost the same. How does your voice change at the comma, at the three dots and at the long line? What is the speaker feeling in each one?"
1. Wait, I left my phone on the bus.
2. Wait ... I think I left my phone on the bus.
3. Wait—my phone! I left it on the bus!
4. “I was going to tell you about the party, but ...” Jonah's voice trailed off.
5. “Watch out for the—” Crash! The shelf hit the floor.
6. My grandmother—who once drove a school bus in Alaska—taught me to drive.
7. Oh, and one more thing, Maya, bring a flashlight.
Written for this page, Model sentences: commas, ellipses and dashes. Original passage written for this page.
Take a few readings. In sentence 1, the comma is a quick pause, and the speaker sounds calm. In sentence 2, the three dots, called an ellipsis, slow the voice down, and the speaker sounds unsure. In sentence 3, the long line, called a dash, is a sudden stop, and the speaker sounds alarmed. Tell students that today they will learn when to use each mark, how an ellipsis can also show that words are missing from a quotation, and four spelling rules. Keep the model sentences handy for Direct Instruction.
Direct Instruction15-20 minutes
Part 1: Commas for a pause (standard a). Use Diagram 1. A comma shows a short, ordinary pause. Grade 8 writers use it after an opening word or phrase (Yes, Well, Oh, In the morning), before and after a name when someone is spoken to, called direct address (model sentence 7: one more thing, Maya, bring a flashlight), before a tag, a short question added to the end of a statement (You're coming, aren't you?), and before words added at the end of a sentence (She laughed, finally).
Part 2: Ellipses and dashes for a pause or break (standard a). An ellipsis is three periods in a row. In dialogue and informal writing, it shows a longer pause: the speaker hesitates (model sentence 2) or trails off without finishing (model sentence 4). A dash is a long line, about as wide as the letter M, with no spaces around it in most books. It shows a sudden break: a thought that stops and changes direction (model sentence 3), speech that is cut off by someone or something (model sentence 5), or a pair of dashes around added words that deserve emphasis (model sentence 6). A dash is not a hyphen, the short mark inside words such as well-known. To type a dash, use the symbol menu (it is called an em dash) or type two hyphens between words, which many programs change into a dash.
Spacing. Style guides differ on how to space an ellipsis. This lesson puts one space before and one space after the three periods, and students should pick one style and keep it.
Choosing a mark for a pause or break
Three situations: (1) Nia pauses after the word so before she answers. (2) Nia starts to say I'm not sure it will, and her voice fades away. (3) Nia starts to say Don't open the, and the door bursts open.
Result: (1) A comma: So, what do you think? (a short pause after an opening word) (2) An ellipsis: “I'm not sure it will ...” (trailing off) (3) A dash after the word the, right before the closing quotation mark (cut off by an event). The choice depends on what happens to the speaker, not on how long the sentence is.
Part 3: An ellipsis for an omission (standard b). Use Diagram 2. When you quote a text, you may leave out words that you do not need, but you must show the cut with an ellipsis. Four rules keep the quotation honest:
Keep every word you quote exactly as the author wrote it.
Put an ellipsis wherever words are left out, and nowhere else.
What is left must still read as a correct sentence, and it must not change the author's meaning.
If a sentence of the original ends before the cut, keep its period and then add the ellipsis.
You do not need an ellipsis at the start or end of a short phrase that you work into your own sentence, because the reader can see it is only part of the original.
Leaving out words inside one sentence
Original, from Nesbit's paragraph 10: Bobbie says “I wanted,” and the narrator adds that she was much cheered to find herself addressed as 'Mate' before she goes on. A student wants only Bobbie's words.
Result: Shortened: “I wanted,” said Bobbie ... “I only wanted to ask you if you'd be so kind as to mend this.” The ellipsis replaces the narrator's comment and the dash after it. The words that remain are exact, and the quotation still says what Bobbie wanted.
Leaving out a whole sentence
Original, paragraphs 4-6: “Try again,” said the engine-driver, encouragingly. / Bobbie tried again. / “Please, Mr. Engineer,” she said, and her long speech follows. A student wants to quote paragraph 4 and the start of paragraph 6 and skip paragraph 5.
Result: Shortened: “Try again,” said the engine-driver, encouragingly. ... “Please, Mr. Engineer,” she said. Paragraph 4's sentence ends before the cut, so its period stays, and the ellipsis follows. The student's quotation ends at she said, so it closes with a period.
Part 4: Spelling (standard c). Most English spelling follows patterns. Teach four rules and their common exceptions:
Four spelling rules for grade 8
Rule
How it works
Examples
Watch out for
Silent e
Drop a final silent e before a suffix that begins with a vowel; keep it before a suffix that begins with a consonant
make, making; care, careful
Keep the e after a soft c or g before -able or -ous: changeable, courageous
Final y
After a consonant, change y to i before a suffix; after a vowel, keep the y
happy, happiness; play, played
Keep the y before -ing: studying
ie or ei
i before e, except after c, or when the sound is ay
field, ceiling, eight
Exceptions such as seize, their and either; check a dictionary
Suffixes -ly and -ness
Add the suffix to the whole word; do not drop a letter where the word and suffix meet
careful, carefully; open, openness
A word ending in -le drops the e before -ly: gentle, gently
Guided Practice15 minutes
Before reading. In The Railway Children, three children live near a railway line in England. Bobbie (short for Roberta) wants someone to mend her brother Peter's broken toy engine, so she climbs into the cab of a real engine to ask the driver, and the train starts moving before she can get off. Words to know: engine-driver (the train's driver), fireman (the worker who shovels coal into the engine's fire), earnestly (seriously), cross (angry), coal bunker (the bin that holds the coal), Mate (friend, in British speech), I'll be bound (I'm sure). The fireman speaks in a regional dialect, a way of speaking used in one place or group: gell means girl and outer means out of.
During reading. Read the scene aloud, letting your voice follow the marks. Pairs then fill in the organizer for paragraphs 1-4 and 9. For each mark, they write whether it shows a pause or a break and why the writer chose it. Model the first row together. Paragraphs 6, 7 and 10 are saved for the quiz, which also returns to paragraphs 1 and 9.
1She did stop, as soon as she could. One thing that helped her was the thought that Peter would give almost his ears to be in her place—on a real engine—really going. The children had often wondered whether any engine-driver could be found noble enough to take them for a ride on an engine—and now there she was. She dried her eyes and sniffed earnestly.
2“Now, then,” said the fireman, “out with it. What do you mean by it, eh?”
3“Oh, please,” sniffed Bobbie.
4“Try again,” said the engine-driver, encouragingly.
5Bobbie tried again.
6“Please, Mr. Engineer,” she said, “I did call out to you from the line, but you didn't hear me—and I just climbed up to touch you on the arm—quite gently I meant to do it—and then I fell into the coals—and I am so sorry if I frightened you. Oh, don't be cross—oh, please don't!” She sniffed again.
7“We ain't so much CROSS,” said the fireman, “as interested like. It ain't every day a little gell tumbles into our coal bunker outer the sky, is it, Bill? What did you DO it for—eh?”
8“That's the point,” agreed the engine-driver; “what did you do it FOR?”
9Bobbie found that she had not quite stopped crying. The engine-driver patted her on the back and said: “Here, cheer up, Mate. It ain't so bad as all that 'ere, I'll be bound.”
10“I wanted,” said Bobbie, much cheered to find herself addressed as 'Mate'—“I only wanted to ask you if you'd be so kind as to mend this.” She picked up the brown-paper parcel from among the coals and undid the string with hot, red fingers that trembled.
E. Nesbit, The Railway Children, chapter IV, "The Engine-Burglar" (Bobbie on the engine) (1906). Public domain (published 1906). Source text.
Organizer for paragraphs 1-4 and 9 (teacher key in the last column)
Paragraph
Mark and words
Pause or break, and why (teacher key)
1
comma in She did stop, as soon as she could
A short pause before the added words, which slows the sentence as Bobbie calms down.
1
dash after ride on an engine, before and now there she was
A break. The sentence stops for a moment before the surprise: she is finally on an engine.
2
commas in “Now, then,” and before eh
Short pauses after the opening words and before the tag eh, the way the fireman would speak.
3
comma in “Oh, please,”
A short pause after the opening word Oh; Bobbie can barely speak.
4
comma before encouragingly
A short pause before a word added at the end of the sentence.
9
commas in “Here, cheer up, Mate.”
A pause after the opening word Here, and a comma before Mate, the name the driver calls Bobbie (direct address).
Discuss: Nesbit could have written paragraph 9 with dashes instead of commas. Why do commas suit the engine-driver here? (He is calm and kind, so his pauses are short and even. Dashes would make him sound as upset as Bobbie.)
Omission practice. With the class, shorten one sentence in paragraph 1 with an ellipsis: The children had often wondered whether any engine-driver could be found ... to take them for a ride would drop noble enough. Ask: does the cut change Nesbit's meaning? (Yes, a little: the children thought a driver would have to be unusually kind, and that idea is lost. A better cut keeps noble enough.) Use this to show that an ellipsis must keep the author's meaning, not only the author's words.
Independent Practice10-15 minutes
Students edit the invented science fair draft below. They fix capital letters and spelling, and they add commas, ellipses or dashes wherever a pause or a break is needed. For every mark they add, they write the reason in the margin (short pause, hesitation, trailing off, sudden break, cut off). Warn them that one sentence is already correct.
(1) On friday, the gym at Lincoln middle school was packed for the science fair. (2) “Well I think our volcano is ready” said Tara. (3) “Are you sure? Last night it ...” Luis stopped, remembering the mess in his kitchen. (4) “Trust me Luis it will work.” (5) Tara poured in the vinegar and waited and waited and nothing happened. (6) “Maybe we used too much vinegar, or maybe” Luis said slowly, scratching his head. (7) “Look out it's going to” Tara yelled as foam shot across the table. (8) The judges were suprised, but they laughed and gave the team a ribbon for the most exciteing project. (9) Luis could not beleive it. (10) “Next year,” Tara said happyly, “we're building a rocket.”
Written for this page (an invented student draft), Draft for editing: The Science Fair Surprise. Original passage written for this page.
Teacher key. Capitals (3): Friday; Middle and School in Lincoln Middle School (every word of the school's name takes a capital). Spelling (4): surprised; exciting (drop the silent e before -ing); believe (i before e); happily (change y to i). Pauses and breaks: (2) “Well, I think our volcano is ready,” said Tara. (a comma after the opening word, and a comma before the closing quotation mark); (4) “Trust me, Luis, it will work.” (commas around the name in direct address); (5) a dash after the second waited and before and nothing happened, for a sudden letdown (an ellipsis for a longer, suspenseful pause is also correct if the student explains it); (6) an ellipsis after the second maybe, before the closing quotation mark, because Luis trails off; (7) a comma after Look out and a dash after to, before the closing quotation mark, because the foam cuts Tara off. Correct as written: (3), where the ellipsis shows Luis trailing off.
Closure5 minutes
Exit ticket: (1) Write one line of dialogue in which a speaker hesitates, and one in which a speaker is cut off; name the mark you used in each. (2) Shorten this sentence with an ellipsis without changing its meaning: The bus, which was twenty minutes late, finally pulled up to the curb. (Answer: The bus ... finally pulled up to the curb.)
Teacher note on the text: Nesbit wrote for British readers in 1906, so the excerpt uses British words and expressions such as Mate and I'll be bound. The fireman's and engine-driver's speech (gell, outer, ain't, 'ere) shows the everyday dialect of railway workers of the time; point out that dialect is a choice writers make to bring characters to life, not a mistake to correct. The excerpt is quoted exactly.
For homework: Problem 4 uses the invented news article below, and Problem 5 uses the camp letter draft below it.
Students at Oak Hill Middle School have built a Little Free Library, a wooden box on a post where anyone can take a book or leave one. The box, which the woodshop class painted bright blue, stands near the front gate of the school. Eighth grader Rosa Diaz came up with the idea last fall. “I wanted kids in our neighborhood to have books over the summer,” she said. The class raised $180 at a bake sale to pay for the wood, the hinges and a clear plastic door. The library opened on May 2 with 60 donated books. By the end of the first week, neighbors had added 25 more.
Principal Allen Brooks said he hopes other schools will copy the project. “It costs very little, it takes one weekend to build, and it lasts for years,” he said.
Written for this page (an invented news article), News article for quoting: Students Build a Little Free Library. Original passage written for this page.
(1) Dear Grandpa, (2) Camp Pine Ridge is great, and I have alredy learned to paddle a canoe. (3) Yesterday we hiked to echo lake with our counselor. (4) Halfway up the trail we heard a crack in the bushes and then a deer leaped across the path! (5) “Stay still everyone,” Jess whispered. (6) Omar started to say, “I think it was a,” but he never finished. (7) On the way back, it started to rain, so we ran the last mile, laughing the whole way. (8) I am definately comeing back next summer. (9) Tell grandma I said hi! (10) Love, Ana
Written for this page (an invented student draft), Draft for editing: A Letter from Camp. Original passage written for this page.
Differentiation Strategies
For Struggling Students
Give students a three-picture card: a small step (comma), a fading voice (ellipsis) and a stop sign (dash), and have them match each mark to a picture before choosing
Read sentences aloud with an exaggerated voice so students hear the difference between a pause, a fade and a sudden stop
For omissions, have students cross out the words with a pencil first, reread what is left, and only then write the ellipsis
For Advanced Students
Ask students to count the dashes, ellipses and commas on one page of a novel they are reading and explain what the choices show about the narrator
Have students quote a paragraph of a news article in half as many words, marking every cut, and have a partner check it against the original
Challenge students to write a short scene of dialogue in which the punctuation alone shows which character is nervous and which is calm
Assessment Guidance
What to Look For
Check each skill separately. For pauses and breaks, look for students who choose a mark by what happens to the speaker (a short pause, a hesitation, a sudden break) and who can say why, not students who scatter marks at random. For omissions, look for exact words, an ellipsis at every cut and nowhere else, a period kept after a complete sentence, and quotations that still mean what the author meant. For spelling, look for students who name the rule behind a correction. For capitals, check proper nouns, days and the first word of each quotation.
02
Classroom Activities
3 Activities
1
Pause or Break? Read-Aloud Cards
15 minPairs
Each pair gets 8 pause cards. Each card has a sentence with a blank where a mark is missing and a clue about the speaker. Partners choose a comma, an ellipsis or a dash, write it in, and read the sentence aloud to test it (standard a).
Pause Cards
1. Oh ___ I almost forgot your present. (a quick pause after a small word)
2. “I was going to call you, but ___” (the speaker's voice fades away)
3. “Hand me the ___” Crash! (the speaker is cut off)
4. Our coach ___ the one who never raises her voice ___ yelled at the referee. (surprising added words that need emphasis)
5. Ready ___ set ___ go! (steady, even pauses)
6. “So ___ um ___ is that your final answer?” (the speaker hesitates twice)
7. And the winner is ___ Priya Shah! (a long, suspenseful pause)
8. Thanks ___ Dad. (a pause before the name of the person spoken to)
Procedure
Partner A reads the clue and chooses a mark; Partner B reads the sentence aloud with that mark, and the pair decides whether it sounds right
The pair writes the reason in three words or fewer (short pause, trails off, cut off, emphasis, hesitation)
Pairs compare with another pair and defend any choice that differs
Teacher key: 1. comma; 2. ellipsis; 3. dash; 4. a pair of dashes; 5. commas; 6. ellipses; 7. ellipsis (a dash is also correct if the student explains it as a sudden break); 8. comma. Three cards take commas (1, 5, 8), three take ellipses (2, 6, 7) and two take dashes (3, 4).
Discussion Questions
Cards 2 and 3 both end in the middle of a sentence. What decides the mark?
Card 7 could take an ellipsis or a dash. How would the two versions sound different?
2
Ellipsis Editors
15 minGroups of 3
Groups use the invented Little Free Library article in Closure. They complete 4 quotation tasks, each asking them to shorten a sentence with an ellipsis, and then trade with another group to check the work against a four-point checklist (standard b).
Quotation Tasks
1. Quote the sentence about the box's color, leaving out the words that tell who painted it.
2. Quote Rosa Diaz's words, leaving out in our neighborhood.
3. Quote the sentence about the bake sale, leaving out the wood, the hinges and.
4. Quote the first sentence of paragraph 1 and the last sentence of paragraph 1, leaving out everything in between.
Procedure
One student underlines the words to cut, one writes the shortened quotation, and one reads it aloud to check that it is still a sentence
Groups trade and check each quotation: exact words, an ellipsis at every cut and nowhere else, a period kept after a complete sentence, the same meaning as the article
Teacher key: 1. The box ... stands near the front gate of the school. 2. “I wanted kids ... to have books over the summer,” she said. 3. The class raised $180 at a bake sale to pay for ... a clear plastic door. 4. Students at Oak Hill Middle School have built a Little Free Library, a wooden box on a post where anyone can take a book or leave one. ... By the end of the first week, neighbors had added 25 more.
Discussion Questions
In task 1, the words bright blue are cut along with the painters. Does the shortened sentence still answer a question about color? What would you change?
Why does task 4 need a period before the ellipsis?
Challenge Variation
Each group writes one quotation from the article that is punctuated correctly but changes the meaning, and the other groups must find the problem.
3
Spelling Rule Stations
15 minGroups of 4
Groups rotate through 4 stations, one for each spelling rule in Direct Instruction. Each station has 5 cards with a word and a suffix, or a word with a missing ie or ei. Students write the spelling, name the rule, and check the answer card (standard c).
Station Cards
Station 1, silent e: move + ing; safe + ty; manage + able; write + ing; nine + ty
Station 2, final y: busy + ness; deny + ed; enjoy + ed; copy + ing; beauty + ful
Station 3, ie or ei: ch__f (leader); c__ling (top of a room); w__gh (find the heaviness); p__ce (a part); rec__pt (a proof of payment)
Station 4, -ly and -ness: real + ly; even + ness; usual + ly; thin + ness; simple + ly
Procedure
At each station, every student writes all five words on a whiteboard before the group checks the answer card
For each word, the group names the rule or the exception it follows
Answer cards: Station 1: moving, safety, manageable, writing, ninety. Station 2: business, denied, enjoyed, copying, beautiful. Station 3: chief, ceiling, weigh, piece, receipt. Station 4: really, evenness, usually, thinness, simply. Watch for manageable (the e stays after a soft g), ninety (keeps the e before a consonant suffix), enjoyed (a vowel before the y) and thinness (two n's, one from each part).
Discussion Questions
Which station had the most exceptions, and how will you remember them?
Why do copying and denied treat the final y differently?
Modification for Distance Learning
Put each station on a slide in a shared deck. Students type their spellings in the speaker notes, and the teacher reveals the answer card on the next slide.
03
Diagrams & Visual Aids
2 diagrams
Diagram 1: Commas, Ellipses and Dashes for a Pause or Break
The same opening word followed by three different marks. The comma is a short step, the ellipsis (drawn as three dots) slows the voice, and the dash (drawn as a long line, wider than a hyphen) breaks the sentence off. Choose the mark by what happens to the speaker.
Diagram 2: Using an Ellipsis for an Omission
The top pair cuts words inside one sentence, and the bottom pair cuts a whole sentence. The words that remain are exactly the original words, and the shortened version still means the same thing. When a sentence of the original ends before the cut, its period stays and the ellipsis follows.
04
Homework Assignment
~30 min
L.8.2 Homework: Pauses, Breaks, Omissions and Spelling
Directions: Complete all six problems. Use Diagram 1 for Problems 1 and 2 and Diagram 2 for Problems 3 and 4. Problem 3 uses the Railway Children excerpt in Guided Practice, Problem 4 uses the Little Free Library article, and Problem 5 uses the camp letter draft; both drafts are at the end of the lesson plan. Where a dash is needed, write it as a long line.
Part 1: Pauses and Breaks (Problems 1-2)
Copy each sentence and add a comma, an ellipsis or a dash where the clue says. Then name the reason: (a) Yes I finished my project. (a short pause after an opening word) (b) “If you had just listened to me” Mom sighed and shook her head. (the speaker trails off) (c) “Don't step on the” Too late. (the speaker is cut off) (d) My sister the one who hates bugs caught the spider. (surprising added words that need emphasis) (e) You'll help me set up the chairs won't you? (a pause before a tag question) (f) “I think the answer is maybe twelve?” (the speaker hesitates before maybe)
Write a short scene of six to eight lines of dialogue between two friends who find a lost dog. Use at least two commas for pauses, one ellipsis for hesitation or trailing off, and one dash for a sudden break or interruption. Circle each mark and write the reason next to it.
Part 2: Ellipses for Omissions (Problems 3-4)
Shorten each quotation from the Railway Children excerpt with an ellipsis, keeping the exact words that remain and Nesbit's meaning: (a) A student quotes the fireman in paragraph 7 as saying “It ain't every day ... tumbles into our coal bunker outer the sky.” Explain what is wrong with this cut (hint: who tumbles?), then write a better shortened version of the same sentence. (b) In paragraph 9, quote the second sentence, leaving out the words patted her on the back and. (c) In paragraph 6, quote Bobbie's words from “Please, Mr. Engineer,” to if I frightened you, leaving out everything from but you didn't hear me to fell into the coals.
Read the Little Free Library article. For each shortened quotation, write correct or incorrect and explain, then fix the incorrect ones: (a) The class raised $180 ... to pay for the wood, the hinges and a clear plastic door. (b) The library opened on May 2 with 60 books. (c) Principal Allen Brooks said ... other schools will copy the project. (d) “It costs very little ... and it lasts for years,” he said.
Part 3: Spelling and Editing (Problems 5-6)
Edit the camp letter draft. Find the three misspelled words, the three words that need a capital letter, and the four places where a mark for a pause or break is missing or wrong. For each fix, name the rule or the reason. Then name the sentence that is already correct and explain one of its commas.
Add the suffix to each word and name the spelling rule: (a) arrive + al (b) shine + ing (c) hurry + ed (d) obey + ed (e) beautiful + ly (f) stubborn + ness (g) outrage + ous (h) lonely + ness. Then write two sentences that use four of the new words correctly.
Rubric
Criterion
Full Credit (2 pts)
Partial Credit (1 pt)
No Credit (0 pts)
Pauses and Breaks
Every mark fits its clue, with a correct reason; the scene uses all three marks correctly
Most marks correct, or reasons missing
Marks chosen at random
Omissions
Exact words, an ellipsis at every cut and nowhere else, periods kept, meaning unchanged; all errors in Problem 4 found
Most quotations correct, or one rule broken
Omissions unmarked or meaning changed throughout
Spelling
All words spelled correctly with the rule named
Most correct, or rules not named
Rules not applied
Editing
All ten errors in the camp letter fixed and the correct sentence named
Six to nine errors fixed
Fewer than six fixed
05
Quiz: 20 Questions
Interactive, with answers
Instructions
Questions 6-10, 17, 18 and 20 use the Railway Children excerpt in Guided Practice; paragraph numbers are shown beside the passage. The other questions use new sentences. Because this page cannot print a dash inside a question, questions about dashes name the mark or refer to the passage. Your score updates as you answer, and Reset quiz clears everything so you or your students can try again.
Multiple choice: pick an option to check it. Short answer: write your answer, then reveal the model answer.
0 of 20 answered · 0 correct
Question 1 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Which sentence uses a comma correctly to show a short pause?
Answer: C
A comma after an opening word such as Well shows the short pause a speaker makes before the rest of the sentence. A puts the comma after guess, splitting I guess from what is guessed. B splits the verb can try. D adds a comma between the subject I and its verb.
Question 2 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Which sentence is punctuated correctly?
Answer: B
Mia pauses after Yes and again after the name of the person she speaks to, so a comma follows Yes and another comma closes the name Coach. A and D leave out the comma after Yes. C and D leave out the comma after Coach, so the name runs into the rest of the sentence.
Question 3 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Dev is not sure of his answer and slows down before the number: “The answer might be [mark] forty-two?” Which mark fits best where [mark] is?
Answer: B
An ellipsis shows a speaker hesitating, which matches a speaker who is unsure and slows down. A would not show the uncertainty, and a comma does not belong between be and its complement. C would mean a sudden break or interruption, and Dev finishes his own sentence. D would split the words into a fragment and a single number.
Question 4 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Carla is talking to her brother on the phone when he suddenly hangs up on her: “Don't forget to bring the [mark]” Which mark belongs at [mark]?
Answer: D
A dash at the end of unfinished speech shows that the speaker is cut off, here by the call ending. A describes trailing off, which is slow, not sudden. B is wrong because a comma cannot end a quotation that stops in the middle of a thought. C is wrong because Don't forget to bring the is not a complete sentence.
Question 5 of 20 · Multiple Choice
A text message reads: I'll meet you at the library at four [mark] no, make it five. The writer changes plans in the middle of the sentence, suddenly and without hesitating. Which mark fits best at [mark]?
Answer: A
A dash shows a sudden break, when a thought stops short and turns in a new direction. B is wrong because no, make it five is not an item in a list. C describes an ellipsis used for an omission, and no words are missing here; an ellipsis for a pause would also suggest hesitation, which the writer does not show. D would run two thoughts together with no signal to the reader.
Question 6 of 20 · Multiple Choice
In paragraph 6, Bobbie's sentence from I did call out to you to if I frightened you contains four dashes. What do all those dashes show?
Answer: C
Bobbie is frightened and out of breath, and each dash is a sudden break where she stops one thought and jumps to the next, including the aside quite gently I meant to do it. A confuses dashes with an ellipsis for an omission. B has no support in the text: she has just stopped crying. D confuses the dash with the hyphen in words such as engine-driver.
Question 7 of 20 · Multiple Choice
In paragraph 1, Nesbit puts a dash before and after the words on a real engine, in the sentence about what Peter would give to be in Bobbie's place. What does the pair of dashes do?
Answer: B
Dashes around added words make them stand out, and the breaks build the excitement of what Peter would give to be on a real, moving engine. A describes an ellipsis. C is wrong because the sentence is a statement. D is wrong because on a real engine and really going describe one place, Bobbie's, and are not a list.
Question 8 of 20 · Multiple Choice
In paragraph 7, why is there a comma before Bill in is it, Bill?
Answer: A
The fireman turns to the engine-driver and speaks to him by name, so the comma marks the short pause before a name in direct address. B is wrong because is it and Bill are not a list of items. C is wrong because an omission is marked with an ellipsis. D is wrong because a comma alone cannot join two complete sentences, and Bill is only a name.
Question 9 of 20 · Multiple Choice
A student quotes the last sentence of paragraph 10 but leaves out the words from among the coals. Which quotation is correct?
Answer: B
B keeps every other word exactly and puts an ellipsis where from among the coals was. A leaves the words out without any mark, so the reader cannot tell the quotation was changed. C cuts brown-paper without a mark and puts the ellipsis where nothing is missing. D changes Nesbit's word undid to untied, and a quotation must keep the author's exact words.
Question 10 of 20 · Multiple Choice
A student quotes the first and last sentences of paragraph 1 and leaves out the two sentences in between. Which quotation is punctuated correctly?
Answer: C
When a sentence of the original ends before the omission, keep its period and then add the ellipsis, as in C. A drops the period that ends Nesbit's first sentence. B leaves out two sentences with no mark at all. D puts an extra ellipsis after stop, where no words were left out (only a comma was dropped).
Question 11 of 20 · Multiple Choice
A news story says: The museum, which reopened in March after a long renovation, now stays open until nine on Fridays. Which quotation uses an ellipsis correctly?
Answer: A
A leaves out the extra clause and marks the cut, and what is left is still a complete, true sentence. B cuts the verb now stays open until nine, so the quotation is no longer a sentence and loses the main idea. C leaves out words with no ellipsis. D adds a second ellipsis where nothing was left out.
Question 12 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Which word is spelled correctly?
Answer: D
Hopeful keeps the silent e because the suffix -ful begins with a consonant. A and C should drop the silent e before a suffix that begins with a vowel: hoping, using. B drops an e that must stay: after a soft c, the e is kept before -able so the c still sounds like s, as in noticeable.
Question 13 of 20 · Multiple Choice
In which sentence is every word spelled correctly?
Answer: A
When a word ends in a consonant plus y, change the y to i before most suffixes (baby, babies), but keep the y before -ing (carrying) so that two i's do not meet. B forgets the change to ies. C changes the y to i before -ing. D drops the y altogether.
Question 14 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Which word is spelled correctly?
Answer: D
The rhyme "i before e, except after c, or when sounded like ay, as in neighbor and weigh" covers neighbor, which sounds like ay. A breaks the "except after c" part: the correct spelling is receive. B should follow i before e: believe. C is a well-known exception to the rule, spelled weird.
Question 15 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Which word is spelled correctly?
Answer: C
Adding -ness to sudden keeps both n's: sudden + ness. A and B drop a letter where the word and the suffix meet: final + ly is finally, and mean + ness is meanness. D drops the silent e before a suffix that starts with a consonant; the correct form is sincerely.
Question 16 of 20 · Short Answer
Explain the difference between an ellipsis and a dash at the end of unfinished dialogue. Then write one line of dialogue that ends with each mark, and say what is happening to the speaker.
Model answer: An ellipsis at the end of dialogue shows the speaker trailing off or hesitating; a dash shows the speaker being cut off suddenly, by another speaker or an event. Ellipsis: “I thought I had my ticket in this pocket ...” (Sam's voice fades as he searches.) Dash: a line that stops at “Don't touch the red and ends with a dash right after red, inside the closing quotation mark, because an alarm goes off and cuts Sam off. Rubric line: 2 points for a correct explanation of both marks and two lines that show each situation clearly; 1 point for a correct explanation or two correct lines.
Question 17 of 20 · Short Answer
A student shortens the first sentence of paragraph 9 to “Bobbie found that she had ... stopped crying.” The words are exact and the ellipsis is placed correctly. Explain why the quotation is still wrong, and write a correct shortened version.
Model answer: The original says Bobbie found that she had not quite stopped crying. Leaving out not quite reverses the meaning: the shortened version says she had stopped, but Nesbit says she was still crying a little. An ellipsis may never change what the author meant. A correct version: “Bobbie ... had not quite stopped crying.”Rubric line: 2 points for explaining that the omission reverses the meaning and giving a version that keeps not quite; 1 point for one of the two.
Question 18 of 20 · Short Answer
Write one sentence of your own about Bobbie that includes a quotation from paragraph 1 in which you leave out at least three words with an ellipsis. Then explain why your omission does not change Nesbit's meaning.
Model answer: Bobbie calms down partly because of her brother: “One thing that helped her was the thought that Peter would give almost his ears to be in her place ... really going.” The omission leaves out only the words on a real engine, which repeat an idea the reader already knows, so the quotation still says what Nesbit said: Peter would love to be where Bobbie is. Rubric line: 2 points for exact words, a correctly placed ellipsis, at least three words left out, and a reason tied to meaning; 1 point if one of these is missing.
Question 19 of 20 · Short Answer
Edit this paragraph. Fix the capital letters and the spelling, and add commas and one ellipsis where they show a pause: on saturday my cousin and I went to the county fair in fresno. well we meant to ride the ferris wheel but the line was extremly long. “maybe we can come back later, if we have time and if” my cousin said slowly, looking at the clock.
Model answer:On Saturday my cousin and I went to the county fair in Fresno. Well, we meant to ride the Ferris wheel, but the line was extremely long. “Maybe we can come back later, if we have time and if ...” my cousin said slowly, looking at the clock. Changes: capitals for On, Saturday, Fresno, Well, Ferris and Maybe; a comma after Well (a pause after an opening word); a comma before but joining two sentences; extremely (keep the silent e before -ly, a suffix that begins with a consonant); an ellipsis after the second if because the cousin trails off. Rubric line: 2 points for all six capitals, the spelling fix and the pause marks; 1 point for most of them.
Question 20 of 20 · Short Answer
Rewrite Bobbie's sentence in paragraph 6, from I did call out to if I frightened you, using commas instead of dashes. Then explain in one or two sentences how the change affects the way Bobbie sounds.
Model answer:I did call out to you from the line, but you didn't hear me, and I just climbed up to touch you on the arm, quite gently I meant to do it, and then I fell into the coals, and I am so sorry if I frightened you. With commas, Bobbie sounds calmer, as if she is telling the story in order. Nesbit's dashes make each part a sudden break, so Bobbie sounds breathless and upset, rushing from one thought to the next. Rubric line: 2 points for a correct rewrite and a comparison of the pauses (short and even) with the breaks (sudden); 1 point for one of the two.
0 of 20 answered · 0 correct
06
Frequently Asked Questions
10 Questions
What does L.8.2 mean?
L.8.2 means that eighth graders use standard capital letters, punctuation and spelling when they write.
Part a asks students to use commas, ellipses and dashes to show a pause or break, part b asks them to use an ellipsis to show that words were left out, and part c asks them to spell correctly.
What is an ellipsis used for?
An ellipsis (three periods in a row) has two jobs: it shows a pause or trailing off, and it shows that words were left out of a quotation.
In dialogue, “I'm not sure ...” shows a speaker trailing off. In a quotation, “The team ... won the title” shows that the writer cut some of the original words.
What is the difference between a dash and an ellipsis?
A dash shows a sudden break, and an ellipsis shows a slower pause or a voice that fades.
At the end of unfinished dialogue, a dash means the speaker was cut off, and an ellipsis means the speaker trailed off. Only the ellipsis can show words left out of a quotation.
What is the difference between a dash and a hyphen?
A hyphen is a short mark that joins words or parts of words, and a dash is a longer mark that separates parts of a sentence.
The hyphen is the mark in engine-driver or twenty-one. The dash (often called an em dash) is about as wide as the letter M. When typing, you can use the symbol menu or two hyphens, which many programs turn into a dash.
When do you use four dots in an ellipsis?
You write a period and then an ellipsis when a sentence of the original ends before the cut.
The period belongs to that sentence, and the three dots show the omission: The rain stopped. ... The game began again. Style guides differ on the spacing, so pick one style and use it every time.
Can an ellipsis change the meaning of a quotation?
It must not. A shortened quotation has to mean what the author meant.
Cutting not from She had not finished would reverse the meaning. Even when every remaining word is exact and every cut is marked, a quotation that twists the author's meaning is misleading.
When should you use a comma to show a pause?
Use a comma for a short, ordinary pause that readers need to follow the sentence.
Common places are after an opening word or phrase (Well,After lunch,), before and after a name in direct address (Thanks, Dad), and before a tag question (You're coming, aren't you?). Do not add a comma just because you would breathe there.
What spelling rules should eighth graders know for L.8.2?
L.8.2 only says "spell correctly," so teachers usually review the patterns students still miss, such as silent e, final y, ie and ei, and suffixes.
Students should also learn to check a dictionary for exceptions such as seize, either and changeable, and to keep a list of the words they misspell most often.
Is L.8.2 tested on state tests?
Many state tests include editing questions on punctuation and spelling, but formats vary by state.
Students are often asked to choose the correct punctuation for a sentence or to edit a short passage. Check your state's test guide for the exact format.
What comes after L.8.2 in high school?
In grades 9-10, L.9-10.2 adds semicolons to join closely related sentences and colons to introduce a list or a quotation, and spelling stays part of the standard.
The ellipsis skills from L.8.2 also matter in research writing, where students quote sources exactly and mark every cut.
07
Related Standards
5 standards
These standards connect to L.8.2: prerequisites to review first, parallel standards at the same level, and next steps that build on it.
Before this lesson
L.6.2Prerequisite
Use commas, parentheses and dashes to set off nonrestrictive elements; spell correctly
