How To Use Long Dashes

When a comma or colon isn t enough or you want to avoid using parentheses the em dash may be the punctuation mark for you.

How to use long dashes. The term em dash comes from the field of typography an em is a width equivalent to the height of a given font. Use a longer em dash to join independent clauses with words like and but as or and for. Place em dashes around non essential information or a list in the middle of a sentence like you would with commas. A long dash s primary job is to tell the reader that you ve jumped tracks onto a new though related subject just for a moment. To properly use a dash in an english sentence start by identifying which dash you should use.

Long dashes help add clarity signal a break or indicate an interruption in a sentence. Long dashes in writing. What is an em dash and when should you use it. Using a colon between a verb and its object or complement. An em dash can replace commas parentheses and colons.

Here are some different situations when you can use an em dash. To whom it may concern. Conversely use a shorter en dash to indicate a range of numbers like 10 15. Here are some examples. How to use an em dash an em dash or long dash is used.

A colon can be used immediately after the greeting in a formal letter less formal letters tend to use a comma in this location. A dash is a little horizontal line that floats in the middle of a line of text not at the bottom. An em dash also called a long dash or thick dash is approximately the width of the letter m which is where it earns its name. Thousands of children like the girl in this photograph have been left homeless. It s longer than a hyphen and is commonly used to indicate a range or a pause.

Dashes are often used to signal an abrupt change in a sentence. It is wider than an en dash or a hyphen. Typically you shouldn t include a space before or after the em dash. The hyphen the shortest of the three marks is familiar sometimes wretchedly so to most writers. The hyphen the em dash and the en dash are the straight arrows among punctuation marks an otherwise fairly curvaceous lot.