The ellipsis is a useful but often misused punctuation mark. It’ most used for indicating that something has been removed from a quote, but their actual usage can be a bit tricky.

For a couple of straight lines, hyphens, em dashes and en dashes can be surprisingly tricky to use. But they’re a critical tool for any writer, especially if you’re hoping to add drama or connect thoughts together.

Quotation marks seem straightforward. If you’re recounting exactly what someone else said, it should be in quotation marks. Easy, right?

That part is simple enough. But where does the punctuation mark go in a quote? What if it’s a quote within a quote? Do you ever use single quotes? What if it’s an unfamiliar word? Are there exceptions?