How To Use Dashes In Writing

On a mac hold down the option key then press the minus key.

How to use dashes in writing. The dash works somewhat like parentheses or commas but it is used where a stronger punctuation is needed. Take it out and the sentence makes sense. Use a dash to show a pause or break in meaning in the middle of a sentence. Em dashes so called because they are at least historically the width of the character m are used for emphasis or interruption. The sure fire way of creating an em dash is to use alt and 0151 on the numeric keypad.

It should be reserved to emphasize a limited number of important points. Most commonly a dash connects an independent clause with another with a related thought plus a conjunction like or but yet as for and after the second dash. You might want to replace the use of a dash with a set of parentheses or even commas. Use an en dash when you need to connect terms that are already hyphenated or when you are using a two word phrase as a modifier. It is used in the same manner as a parenthetical expression.

My brothers richard and john are visiting hanoi. The information inside the dashes is off topic. Use an em dash to join independent clauses. The words between a pair of dashes may or may not form a complete sentence. Rather than placing parentheses around a phrase within a statement writers can opt to surround the phrase with an em dash on either end.

Could use commas in the 15th century when of course nobody had electricity water was often pumped by hand. In windows hold down the alt key then press the numbers 0150. Although many people call the hyphen a dash dash refers to another group of horizontal lines in text. Us publishers and the oxford university press in the uk choose to use closed up em dashes em dashes without any spaces where other uk publishers might use spaced en dashes. Dashes are usually considered to be informal.

Think of dashes as the opposite of parentheses. An em dash is used to indicate a break in a sentence or question. They can be used on their own or in pairs to offset a word or phrase. The two most common dashes are the em dash and the en dash. 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.