How To Use Single Dashes

An en dash is most commonly used to indicate a range of numbers like pages 182 197 in a book or an event happening from 1 p m 5 p m.

How to use single dashes. Where parentheses indicate that the reader should put less emphasis on the enclosed material dashes indicate that the reader should pay more attention to the material between the dashes. Dashes add drama parentheses whisper. You can create an em dash in microsoft office software among others by pressing ctrl alt on the number pad. You will get away with a hyphen. The single dash is normally a feature of informal english and is used especially in narrative to create suspense or to indicate that what follows is.

The nato warsaw pact agreement. Take it out and the sentence makes sense. When used with numbers en dashes can generally be read as to or through for example if you read the statement pages 182 197 out loud it would sound like pages 182 through 197. The information inside the dashes is off topic. A list an elaboration or summary or another independent clause.

When the dash is used in this way it creates a compound adjective. 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. Using dashes to extend sentences. Dashes can be used for emphasis in several ways. Dashes are used as punctuation in sentences.

A single dash can emphasize material at the beginning or end of a sentence. If you think back to last week we said that a colon needed an independent clause to the left of it and that there were three things that could go to the right. Find out more in a bitesize ks2 english guide. If you re a stickler for the rules use an en dash in your adjective. Hyphens are shorter than dashes and are used to connect words.

Using dashes in compound adjectives with equal parts a dash can replace a hyphen in a compound adjective with two equal elements. Those rules also apply to single dashes. To do a find and or replace plug the code into either the find what or replace with text boxes to search for or replace with an em dash. The en dash may also be used to indicate a connection between two words. There is was again that creak on the staircase.