How To Use A Pair Of Dashes

The words between a pair of dashes may or may not form a complete sentence.

How to use a pair of dashes. The en dash is sometimes also used in the same way as an em dash. A hyphen should not be used in place of a dash. Use a longer em dash to join independent clauses with words like and but as or and for. Aug 31 2015 updated. I hope this discussion and these examples show how the use of a pair of dashes can be used to effectively set off and thus bring attention to a statement made within the middle of a lengthy sentence.

Em en and the double hyphen. There are three forms of dashes. Presentation to include definitions examples sentence starters and extension work. There used to be a real me but i had it surgically removed peter sellers 1925 1980 note. Place em dashes around non essential information or a list in the middle of a sentence like you would with commas.

To properly use a dash in an english sentence start by identifying which dash you should use. Dashes are used as punctuation in sentences. You have to use an em dash when crediting. To create an en dash using a keyboard on a windows based system hold down the alt key and simultaneously type 0150. Find out more in a bitesize ks2 english guide.

For your homework read pages 49 64. American psychological association notes that you would use the en dash for. Use an internal series of appositives or modifiers enclosed by a pair of dashes appositives will rename and modifiers will describe something named elsewhere in the sentence. The most common types of dashes are the en dash and the em dash. Because this kind of series serves as a dramatic interruption within the sentence and may even have commas you must use the dash before it and after it.

The information inside the dashes is off topic. It s longer than a hyphen and is commonly used to indicate a range or a pause. The material inside the dashes relates to the information in the rest of the sentence but it acts as an interruption to the main point that you re making. Dashes are used to separate groups of words not to separate parts of words like a hyphen does. Make sure not to confuse dashes with shorter hyphens which are used to combine words as in well behaved or long running.