![]() ![]() correct, book style: Most people who use ellipses in e-mail overdo it-a lot.incorrect: Most people who use ellipses in e-mail overdo it- a lot.But for heaven’s sake, DO NOT leave out a space before an em dash, while inserting a space after the dash. Either way, be consistent throughout your manuscript. Grammar Girl notwithstanding, newspaper style (depending on the newspaper) may call for spaces before and after the em dash. You can replace the double hyphens with a bona fide em dash later.ĭon’t put a space between an em dash and the adjacent words. Both styles are OK in a draft manuscript (as opposed to a published work), but you should be consistent. In a draft manuscript, you may use double hyphens to indicate an em dash (a hold-over from typewriter days), and place spaces on either side, or use the actual em dash, no spaces on either side. Where is the em dash on the standard keyboard? As with the en dash, it’s not there. The em dash is also used to indicate quotation attribution, as in the Grammar Girl example below.The em dash may be used at the end of a quotation in monologue/dialogue to indicate an abrupt stop or interruption: “Oh my god, you’re-”.Emphasis: Most people who use ellipses in e-mail overdo it-a lot.Readability: Polly knew “store” meant liquor store-not the grocery store-but she recited the grocery list anyway.It can be used in place of commas (or parentheses) to enhance readability-or for emphasis-by setting off a word or phrase it is used in pairs, unless the word or phrase being set off is at the end of a sentence. Where the hyphen and en dash are used to join text, the em dash is used to separate text. The em dash serves an entirely different function than the hyphen and en dash, which I described in the previous blog. Dash It All! Part B: Em Dash-The Separator Proofed’s editors are on hand 24/7 to help you out.The 10 Most Common Errors Made by Writers Punctuation-particularly the use of dashes-is a common cause of errors in written English. “I’d really like a new fishpond,” said Arthur, “but it’s rather - ” But they never would find out what he was about to say, for, at that moment, the alarm sounded. If you are writing dialogue and wish to indicate an interruption, you can use an em dash: Remember to be consistent in the number of em dashes you use to replace missing words. , a dog walker, was a witness to the mugging. Two or three em dashes can be used to replace an entire word: “Where is the b - hamster?” asked Melanie. ![]() You can use two em dashes to indicate that a portion of a word has been omitted, whether intentionally or because the word is unknown: The rabbits cost $50 each -not $40 as he’d previously thought.Įm dashes used in this way are considered less formal than colons or semicolons, so try to limit their use in academic writing. It was the best idea he’d had all year -he’d buy himself a cat. In Place of a Colon or SemicolonĪn em dash can also be used in place of a colon or semicolon if you want to stress the conclusion of a sentence or signal a change of topic: If in doubt about using dashes, check your style guide and, above all, be consistent! 2. Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter! In contrast, British English tends to use spaced en dashes for such parenthetical statements. The parrot toy I bought yesterday - the red one with the mirror - was cheaper than I thought. However, the Associated Press Stylebook states that em dashes should be spaced, and most newspapers follow its lead: If you want to be more subtle, use parentheses.Īs in the example above, em dashes are usually written without spaces on either side. They are generally thought to be more emphatic than parentheses, so if you want to make a point, use em dashes. In this case, em dashes are used in pairs. The parrot toy I bought yesterday -the red one with the mirror- was cheaper than I thought. To Frame Extra InformationĮm dashes are used to frame extra information in sentences where commas or parentheses would otherwise be used: If not, go to the “ insert symbol” command and find the em dash there. Most word processors automatically produce an em dash if you type two hyphens next to each other. There is also the hyphen (-), which is shorter than either dash. The em dash (-), which is the width of a capital “M.”.The en dash (–), which is typically the width of a capital letter “N”.Below, we explain what an em dash is and how to use it in your writing. Confused about em dashes? This post is here to help. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |