A comma straight after an em dash

Warning punctuation.dropped-word-dash Previewed fix

The comma directly after the em dash is mechanically detectable, but the punctuation change remains preview-only.

Convention: Hyphenate scatting and stutters.

Example

Flagged by this rule

[Verse]
A word—, then silence

In the workbench this reads: Do not follow an em dash with a comma.

Accepted by this rule

[Verse]
A word—then silence

The fix

In the workbench this finding carries one control, labelled Remove the comma. The change is contextual, so it is previewed as a diff in your document first and applies only when you confirm it.

The convention and its limits

This check detects the pattern shown above. An accepted example passes this check; it is not a review of the whole transcription.

Source

The source cited by this check:

Hyphens and em dashes verified 2026-08-12 Dropped words and punctuation around em dashes

Check a transcription in the workbench