How To Use A Pair Of Dashes In A Sentence

In other words if you want to include information that is not absolutely necessary in forming a complete sentence but that is important to the idea you are communicating introduce this information into the main sentence between dashes.

How to use a pair of dashes in a sentence. Place em dashes around non essential information or a list in the middle of a sentence like you would with commas. It is usually used as an alternative to another type of punctuation. 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. An em dash is used to indicate a break in a sentence or question. If you want to include the parenthetical content more subtly use parentheses.

A dash is a little horizontal line that floats in the middle of a line of text not at the bottom. It is used in the same manner as a parenthetical expression. 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. Dashes have three uses. The name em indicates that the dash is roughly the size of the letter m.

Use a longer em dash to join independent clauses with words like and but as or and for. It s a technique that can be useful in writing an appellate brief where lengthy and complex sentences are not uncommon. Note that when dashes are used in place of parentheses surrounding punctuation should be omitted. Dashes are used to separate groups of words not to separate parts of words like a hyphen does. To properly use a dash in an english sentence start by identifying which dash you should use.

Dashes are often used to signal an abrupt change in a sentence. When used to extend a sentence a dash can replace a semicolon a colon or three dots used as a pause for effect. Dashes are considered less formal than parentheses. To set off parenthetical material that you want to emphasize. It s longer than a hyphen and is commonly used to indicate a range or a pause.

When used as parentheses dashes are alternatives to brackets or commas. Generally speaking the dash does not have a unique role. What is an em dash and when should you use it. 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. If you want to draw attention to the parenthetical content use dashes.