READ & LISTEN to GRAMMAR GIRL on DASHES

This week by learning about dashes. Dashes are fun to use when you know how to use them.

Read along with this Grammar Girl podcast as she explains the difference between commas, dashes, and parentheses.  Note that you can listen, read, or listen and read this podcast!

Click HERE to open Grammar Girl Webpage

An em-dash is typically used to act as a comma or parenthesis to separate out phrases—or even just a word—in a sentence for various reasons (i.e. an appositive). Examples where an em-dash should be used:

  • School is based on the three R’s—reading, writing, and ’rithemtic.
  • Against all odds, Pete—the unluckiest man alive—won the lottery.
  • I sense something; a presence I've not felt since—

An en-dash is used to connect values in a range or that are related. 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 relevant
  • New York beat Los Angeles 98–95

A hyphen is used to join words in a compound construction, or separate syllables of a word, like during a line break, or (self-evidently) a hyphenated name.

  • pro-American
  • cruelty-free eggs
  • em-dash
  • it's pronounced hos-pi-tal-it-tee
  • Olivia Newton-John

Finally, a minus sign is distinct from all three of the above.

  • 4 − 2 = 2.

 

After you have completed this part of the lesson, you can check the associated box on the main course page to mark it as complete

Last modified: Thursday, 25 August 2016, 11:50 AM