Dash usage rules
13 Sep 2019 This is the most important rule regarding dashes that you need to know. Incorrect: John Locke–whose writings strongly influenced The 7 Feb 2020 Learn and understand the correct use of hyphens and dashes to add clarity to your business writing. Grammar: The Dash [ – ]. Alone among punctuation marks, the increasingly popular dash is never grammatically required, whether singly or in pairs; there is Dashes are a punctuation mark. It sets off information that interrupts the flow of a sentence. Writers use dashes in a lot of different situations. For example, a sudden A dash is a horizontal line that shows a pause or break in meaning, or that represents missing words or letters. Note that dashes are rather informal and should
18 Jan 2018 Then I became an editor, and in the course of training, duly became privy to the arcane laws of dashes. There are three different types of dash,
12 Apr 2019 Dashes are used to separate two words into statements. It should be noted that dashes are almost never required by the rules of grammar and 31 Oct 2016 As writers, editors and proofreaders the hyphen causes us angst. The rules are, at best, complicated. And hang the rules, usage is complicated 3 em dashes can be confusing. Let's take a look at the different types of dashes and when to use these little punctuation marks. En dash. In ranges. The en Em dashes are punctuation marks that are useful when a writer wants to emphasize a particular phrase within a sentence. They can also be used to Review basic punctuation rules on our instructional pages covering topics such as apostrophes, colons, commas, dashes, hyphens, periods, and more. 1 Mar 2017 “Use real dashes,” says Matthew Butterick in Typography for Lawyers. Rules? The dash obeys few rules. It's flexible. You can use it in place
So, next time you look in your toolkit of punctuation marks and see the en dash or em dash just waiting to be put to work, ensure that you are using these marks for the right reasons and following the rules discussed. Ask yourself if your parenthetical remark will add nuance and insight to your writing or just confuse the reader. If it's the
18 Jan 2018 Then I became an editor, and in the course of training, duly became privy to the arcane laws of dashes. There are three different types of dash, 30 Dec 2016 A hyphen is a teensy weensy little dash that's typically used to join words. Rules for em dashes in writing. Let's compare with hyphens and en Rules for Using Dashes. Generally speaking, the dash does not have a unique role. It is usually used as an alternative to another type of punctuation. 5 Apr 2016 There are 2 types of dashes, “em” and “en”. The same rule applies to “Atg8–PE ” because this is also a covalent bond that is formed Hyphens, en-dashes and em-dashes are frequently used punctuation marks that are just An em-dash is the longest of the three, and is used to indicate a break in thought Read more about typography in her latest literary effort, Type Rules! 12 Apr 2019 Dashes are used to separate two words into statements. It should be noted that dashes are almost never required by the rules of grammar and 31 Oct 2016 As writers, editors and proofreaders the hyphen causes us angst. The rules are, at best, complicated. And hang the rules, usage is complicated
A good rule is to use parentheses, commas, semicolons, and colons instead of em dashes in formal writing. There should be no spaces before or after an em dash.
Always use an en dash, not a hyphen, in a range like 30–40 (only use dashes if you're doing a range of figures – use 'to' for things like 'Monday to Friday'). European Union – Interinstitutional Style Guide – Uniform stylistic rules and conventions (publishing, copyright, manuscripts, proofreading, States/countries, 24 May 2011 “Reminded me of our battles over long dashes,” he wrote—and, to tell More likely, it's the lack of hard-and-fast usage rules—even the AP's A good rule is to use it when you're expressing a "to" relationship. Examples where an en-dash should be used: in years 1939–1945; pages 31–32 may be Of the three similar types of punctuation—hyphens, en dashes, and em but correctly using en dashes is definitely one of the little grammar rules to follow that
On a Windows-based system, you can form an em dash on a keyboard by holding down the Alt key and typing 0151. To create the em dash on a Macintosh-based system, hold down the Shift and Option keys and press the Minus key [-], notes Techwalla, adding that alternatively, you can press the Hyphen key twice and press Space.
Dashes have three uses: 1. To set off parenthetical material that you want to emphasize; in other words, if you want to include information that is not absolutely The dash (–) is used to set off additional material within a sentence, often in order English language is very difficult because the rules are often so inconsistent. Always use an en dash, not a hyphen, in a range like 30–40 (only use dashes if you're doing a range of figures – use 'to' for things like 'Monday to Friday').
Em Dashes, Parentheses, or Commas? A good rule of thumb is to reserve em dashes for those places where the comma simply doesn't provide a strong enough