Em Dash in Quotations
The use of an em dash to introduce or attribute a quotation.
An em dash in quotation marks is the typographical dash — longer than a hyphen and an en dash — used to mark the speaker of a line of dialogue, to introduce a block quotation, or to set off an attribution from the quoted words. It is the dash of interruption and emphasis.
In dialogue, the em dash can introduce a speech tag without using a comma: 'I'll tell you what he said — nothing.' In attribution, it can stand before the source of a quotation: 'All happy families are alike — Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina.'
The em dash is visually stronger than a comma, so it can feel dramatic. It works well in short quotations and in rhetorical prose. In academic writing, where restraint is preferred, it is usually safer to use a comma or a colon after the quotation.
Common mistake: using an em dash where a comma is sufficient. A dash is not a more elegant comma; it is a louder one. Overuse makes prose breathless.
“The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity. — W. B. Yeats, 'The Second Coming.'”
Keep reading the glossary
The em-dash convention for attributing a freestanding quote (— Author).
The credit set below a block quotation, epigraph, or pull quote.
A long quotation set off as its own indented paragraph, without quotation marks.
The punctuation that signals direct speech or a quoted phrase — single or double, depending on locale.