7.2 Dashes & Hyphens: Interruptions, Breaks and Compounds
Key Takeaways
The Guide to Judiciary Policy requires a dash at the point where speech is interrupted and again at the point where the speaker resumes.
AAERT's sample transcripts mark interruptions and self-interruptions with a double dash (--), with a space on each side.
When an interrupted speaker picks up again after someone else speaks, the resumed line starts with a double dash: "MR. McHENRY: -- being over what?"
Compound modifiers before a noun are hyphenated (a 15-minute recess), but not after the noun or after an -ly adverb (a recklessly driven car).
Blueprint topics 20209 (dashes) and 20213 (hyphens) cover two marks that look alike and do opposite jobs. A dash separates: it shows a break in speech. A hyphen joins: it links words into a compound. Blueprint topic 30302 separately asks you to format interruptions with double dashes.
The dash in a transcript
The rule
Guide to Judiciary Policy, § 520.36.40: "Interruptions of speech must be denoted by the use of a dash at the point of interruption, and again at the point the speaker resumes speaking." At the transcriber's discretion, simultaneous discussions may be noted the same way.
AAERT's form: the double dash
AAERT's sample pages and Scalini key type the dash as two hyphens (--), with a space before and after:
Q. Sometime in -- sometime in about -- I guess it was in --
THE COURT: Don't guess, Mr. Lim. If you don't --
THE WITNESS: I don't know.
Why two hyphens? Transcripts are typed in a fixed-pitch format, and "--" is unambiguous in plain text, in the pasted body of the CET practical, and in any software. Turn off the word-processor feature that converts "--" into a single en dash or em dash, so that what you type matches the key.
Three uses of the double dash
1. Interruption by another speaker
MS. KENNELLY: I'd like to use numbers, if I may,
unless --
THE CLERK: This will be Plaintiff's Exhibit 1.
2. Resumption after the interruption. When the interrupted speaker picks up the same sentence, begin the resumed text with a dash:
MR. McHENRY: Judge, I'm going to object to the term
"seemed to be over it." If Mr. Jefferson can -- or Ms.
Jefferson can specify --
MS. JEFFERSON: Oh, he's --
MR. McHENRY: -- being over what?
MS. JEFFERSON: -- testified that he seemed to have
calmed down.
(Scalini key.) Each speaker's thought continues across the interruption, and the leading dash tells the reader it is a continuation.
3. Self-interruption and change of thought, where the speaker breaks off and restarts:
A. It's the -- actually, it's the identification area.
Q. And what is -- what do those duties entail?
The dash replaces nothing; every word spoken stays.
What the dash is not
- Not a pause. A speaker who pauses and continues the same sentence gets no dash. Long pauses are noted in a parenthetical only if counsel refers to them (Chapter 10).
- Not for trailing off in some styles. Some transcripts use an ellipsis for a voice that fades out uninterrupted (Section 7.3). AAERT's samples use the double dash for unfinished utterances.
- Not a hyphen. A single hyphen never marks an interruption.
The hyphen
Compound modifiers before a noun
Hyphenate two or more words that work together as one adjective before the noun:
- a 15-minute recess, a two-year-old daughter, a well-known witness, a front-end collision
Not after the noun: the recess was 15 minutes; the witness is well known.
Not after -ly adverbs: a recklessly driven car, a clearly marked exhibit.
Numbers and fractions
- Compound numbers twenty-one to ninety-nine: thirty-seven.
- Spelled fractions used as nouns or adjectives: one-half, two-thirds majority.
Prefixes and compound words
- ex-, self-, all-: ex-husband, self-defense, all-inclusive.
- A prefix before a capital letter or number: pre-2020, anti-American.
- To avoid confusion: re-sign (sign again) vs. resign; re-cover vs. recover.
- Many prefixes close up: nonresponsive, pretrial, postconviction, cross-examination (hyphenated in Merriam-Webster). Check the dictionary.
Spelled words and names
A word or name spelled out letter by letter is written in capitals separated by hyphens:
A. Margaret Heller, H-E-L-L-E-R. (Scalini key)
Chapter 10 covers spelling on the record in detail.
Hyphenated names
Keep hyphenated surnames as the case information shows them: SMYTHE-RICHARDS (AAERT's sample title page).
Stutters and suspended hyphens
- A stutter is normally omitted under the Guide's rule on verbal tics. When it must be kept (because it matters to meaning, or the client requires full verbatim), a hyphen joins the repeated sound: I-I didn't.
- Suspended hyphens: first- and second-degree murder.
Dash or hyphen? One test
If the mark joins two words into one idea, it is a hyphen with no spaces. If it breaks the speech, it is a double dash with spaces.
Practice passage
Audio (two speakers overlapping):
Q: were you -- did you ever see the -- A: the gun no not until he took it out Q: -- the gun before that night
Transcript:
Q. Were you -- did you ever see the --
A. The gun? No, not until he took it out.
Q. -- the gun before that night?
Why:
- The questioner breaks off Were you and restarts: a self-interruption, marked with a double dash.
- The questioner is cut off at the: a double dash at the point of interruption.
- The witness's line is complete, so it ends normally.
- The questioner resumes the same sentence: the resumed line starts with a double dash, as § 520.36.40 requires.
Exam traps
| Trap | Correct |
|---|---|
| A single hyphen for an interruption: I went to the- | I went to the -- |
| No dash at resumption after an interruption | -- the gun before that night? |
| Assuming every compound loses its hyphen after the noun | Merriam-Webster hyphenates some compounds in every position (cross-examination, month-to-month); check the dictionary |
| Hyphen after an -ly adverb: a clearly-stated rule | a clearly stated rule |
| Spelled name without hyphens: H E L L E R | H-E-L-L-E-R |
| Auto-converted em dash in the pasted practical body | Two hyphens: -- |
Under the Guide to Judiciary Policy, where must dashes appear when a speaker is interrupted and later resumes?
Only at the point of interruption
Only at the start of the interrupting speaker's line
Nowhere; interruptions are shown with ellipses
At the point of interruption and again at the point the speaker resumes
In AAERT's sample transcripts, how is an interruption typed?
As a single hyphen attached to the last word, as in "unless-"
As a double dash (--) with a space before it, as in "unless --"
As an ellipsis, as in "unless..."
As a parenthetical, as in "unless (interrupted)"
Which phrase is hyphenated correctly?
We will take a 15-minute recess.
The recess lasted 15-minutes.
It was a clearly-marked exhibit.
The witness is well-known in the community.
Sections you finish are checked off in the contents.