How To Use Dashes Correctly

It is also used for words like two thirds.

How to use dashes correctly. It is usually used as an alternative to another type of punctuation. In the microsoft office suite of applications and many others as well you can create an en dash by pressing ctrl on the number pad. Em dashes are not generally used in formal documents. It s longer than a hyphen and is commonly used to indicate a range or a pause. It is used in the same manner as a parenthetical expression.

To do a search and or replace the code represents the en dash. The reason for using an en dash with such compounds is to send a subtle signal to the reader that the prefix belongs to the entire compound not just the first word of it. Rather than placing parentheses around a phrase within a statement writers can opt to surround the phrase with an em dash on either end. A single dash can emphasize material at the beginning or end of a sentence. The em dash is the largest of the three kinds of dashes.

When used to extend a sentence a dash can replace a semicolon a colon or three dots used as a pause for effect. En dashes are also used to connect a prefix with an open compound. What s the difference between a hyphen and a dash. When used as parentheses dashes are alternatives to brackets or commas. A hyphen is used for linking words and parts of words together.

Place em dashes around non essential information or a list in the middle of a sentence like you would with commas. Dashes can be used for emphasis in several ways. Definitely check what the house style or the preferred style guide has to say about en dashes. Use a longer em dash to join independent clauses with words like and but as or and for. After eighty years of dreaming the elderly man realized it was time to finally revisit the land of his youth ireland.

So what s the difference. Dashes are used to separate groups of words not to separate parts of words like a hyphen does. Create an em dash by typing two hyphens without spaces between the hyphens and no spaces before or after the hyphens. To properly use a dash in an english sentence start by identifying which dash you should use. An em dash is used to indicate a break in a sentence or question.