em dash with quotation marks
The placement of an em dash inside or outside quotation marks.
Place an em dash inside the closing quotation mark when it marks an abrupt cutoff in the quoted speech: “If you open that—” Do not add a comma or period after the dash: “I was only trying to—” she began.
Place paired em dashes outside the quotation marks when the narrator interrupts a spoken sentence to describe an action: “The answer”—he turned the page—“is somewhere in this chapter.” The dashes enclose the narrator’s words; the spoken sentence continues across the interruption.
When an em dash introduces a comment on quoted words, place it outside the closing quotation mark. Here the dash does its usual work, setting off a comment or afterthought as a comma or colon would: She called the fee “a minor expense”—an assessment I disputed.
Examples
Use“But the appointment was—” he protested. (The dash marks a cutoff in the quoted speech.)
Use“Your coat”—she pointed to the chair—“is still wet.” (The dashes enclose the narrator’s description of an action.)
UseThe notice promised “immediate assistance”—a promise no one fulfilled. (The dash belongs to the surrounding sentence.)
Avoid“If the latch—,” she began. (Do not add a comma after the dash.)