How do I show that I left words out of a quotation?

Put an ellipsis where the words were, with a space on each side. Cut noticeably from “The update makes the app run noticeably faster” and it becomes “The update makes the app run … faster.” Only cut words when the line still means what the writer meant.

When does a sentence need two dashes instead of one?

When the break sits in the middle and the sentence picks up again after it. Every color in the mural — red, gold, and a deep forest green — came from one store. One dash opens the aside and the second one closes it.

Why does an ellipsis sometimes have four dots?

When the cut comes after a complete sentence, its period stays and the three dots follow. Every omission on this sheet is in the middle of a sentence, so each one takes three.

8th grade the dash and the ellipsis

8th grade the dash and the ellipsis worksheets

At eighth grade the ellipsis takes on its second job, L.8.2.b: marking words left out of a line being quoted. The sheet names the words to cut, and the student rewrites the line with the ellipsis in their place. Dashes now come in pairs around a break in the middle of a sentence, or after a list that the rest of the sentence sums up.

Free printable PDF worksheet, aligned to Common Core L.8.2.a.

Each print is a different sheet with its own answer key. You don't need to sign up.

The kind of sentences you'll fix

Rewrite each sentence with a dash or an ellipsis where it belongs.

Leave out “in our backyard”: My grandmother planted the apple tree in our backyard the summer before I was born.
Fixed: My grandmother planted the apple tree … the summer before I was born.
Rain, wind, and three days of hail the garden survived all of it.
Leave out “of the museum”: The painting hung in a dark hallway of the museum for forty years before anyone noticed it.

Every print pulls a new set of sentences at this level, so a make-up test or a second sibling gets a different mix.

What's on an 8th grade sheet

8th grade sheets draw from 52 sentences, 7 to a page. None of these sentences are on 7th grade sheets. 7th grade sheets print 8 to a page.

A few of the sentences, as the answer key corrects them:

Students who finish early may … begin the questions at the back of the chapter.
The river rises quickly … and floods the lower meadow almost every year.
Flour, sugar, eggs, and butter — the recipe needed nothing else.

Fix it. Rewrite each sentence with a dash or an ellipsis where it belongs. 7 sentences to fix per page.

Every version prints on US Letter or A4, with its answer key on the last page.

How to teach this

For the omission items, have students cross out the named words in the printed line first, then copy what is left and put the ellipsis in the gap. The check is simple: the shortened line should still read as a sentence, and nothing it says should be something the original did not say. For paired dashes, the test is the same as for paired commas: lift out what sits between the dashes and the sentence still stands. The common miss is the closing dash, so count two before moving on.

Watch for: A dash is not a comma with attitude. Use it when the break is abrupt or when a list with its own commas needs setting off; a plain aside still takes commas. An ellipsis is three dots and no more. Four dots appear only when a full sentence ends before the omission. Neither mark is a substitute for a period. A sentence that trails off still needs a closing quotation mark, and a sentence with a dash still needs an end mark.

Common questions about 8th grade the dash and the ellipsis

How do I show that I left words out of a quotation?: Put an ellipsis where the words were, with a space on each side. Cut noticeably from “The update makes the app run noticeably faster” and it becomes “The update makes the app run … faster.” Only cut words when the line still means what the writer meant.
When does a sentence need two dashes instead of one?: When the break sits in the middle and the sentence picks up again after it. Every color in the mural — red, gold, and a deep forest green — came from one store. One dash opens the aside and the second one closes it.
Why does an ellipsis sometimes have four dots?: When the cut comes after a complete sentence, its period stays and the three dots follow. Every omission on this sheet is in the middle of a sentence, so each one takes three.

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Aligned to Common Core L.8.2.a. Reviewed by the One more sheet team. Content version 241, updated September 2026.

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