Em dashes are also known as an m dash, m-rule, long dash, or, in grammatical slang circles, “mutton.”The New York Timeseven called it “the bad boy or cool girl” of punctuation and a freewheeling scofflaw. So there you go! Em Dash Examples You've probably seen a lot of em da...
Word of the Day consternation See Definitions and Examples » Get Word of the Day daily email!Popular in Grammar & Usage See All What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'? More Commonly Misspelled Words Commonly Misspelled Words How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–...
1. Use em dashes in place of commas or parentheses to create a break in a sentenceExamples:Please call my lawyer—Richard Smith—on Tuesday. This sentence could also be written with commas or parentheses. Please call my lawyer, Richard Smith, on Tuesday. Please call my lawyer (Richard ...
How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-) Plural and Possessive Names: A Guide The Difference Between 'i.e.' and 'e.g.' Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word? What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
Learn the difference between em dashes (—) and en dashes (–), with examples and tips on proper usage in this comprehensive punctuation guide.
While a hyphen is used to join words or parts of words, forming compounds, dashes can be used to separate words, indicate ranges, and in some cases, indicate the connection between words. There are two types of dash: the en dash (–) and the em dash (—). It can be easy to confu...
one of literature’s most famous opening paragraphs by sticking so many comma splices into it that it began to look like a hedgehog. This was a stylistic choice on his part—can you imagine how hard it would be on the eyes if it was slammed full of semicolons, or worse, em-dashes?
Em-dashes Colons 1. Conjunctions The most common way to create compound sentences is to useconjunctions, preceded by a comma. Conjunctions are words that tie clauses together. There are multiple types of conjunctions. Some can be used to create compound sentences, and some can’t. ...
Parentheses are always used in pairs (duh), and can embrace a word, a fragment, a sentence, or even multiple sentences. For instance, when Lawson describes Edward’s discussion with Betty, she places Edward’s commentary—a whole sentence—between parentheses: ...
Commonly Misspelled Words How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-) Absent Letters That Are Heard Anyway How to Use Accents and Diacritical Marks Popular in Wordplay See All It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat ...