How To Use Dashes In Essays

A colon can be used immediately after the greeting in a formal letter less formal letters tend to use a comma in this location.
How to use dashes in essays. When a sentence begins with an independent clause and ends with a list you can use a colon between the clause and the list. An em dash is used to indicate a break in a sentence or question. Since conventions differ slightly from place to place one thing you should do to ensure accuracy is check your style guide before starting an essay. How to use dashes in mla essay university of minnesota mfa creative writing application students grade good and bad example essays my december holiday essay. Dashes are used to separate groups of words not to separate parts of words like a hyphen does.
The words between a pair of dashes may or may not form a complete sentence. Use a dash to show a pause or break in meaning in the middle of a sentence. If you look carefully hyphens and dashes differ in appearance as well as their use so picking the right one in any given situation is vital. Place em dashes around non essential information or a list in the middle of a sentence like you would with commas. Please accept my application for the position advertised in the news and observer.
When the list comes first it s better to use a dash to connect the list to the clause. Use a longer em dash to join independent clauses with words like and but as or and for. To properly use a dash in an english sentence start by identifying which dash you should use. The information inside the dashes is off topic. It is used in the same manner as a parenthetical expression.
Use an em dash to bring focus to a list. The em dash is the largest of the three kinds of dashes. 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. The etruscans a largely mysterious civilisation left behind few archaeological artefacts. The main use of em dashes is to set part of a sentence apart from surrounding text like brackets.
A dash is a little horizontal line that floats in the middle of a line of text not at the bottom. Using a colon between a verb and its object or complement. Could use commas in the 15th century when of course nobody had electricity water was often pumped by hand. Rather than placing parentheses around a phrase within a statement writers can opt to surround the phrase with an em dash on either end. Take it out and the sentence makes sense.