Many writers use a double hyphen in place of an em dash, and you might have noticed that your word processor sometimes will automatically turn them into an em dash. Most word processors have shortcuts for creating en and em dashes. It would be worth your while to search your help menu t...
Possibly the biggest use of the em-dash, as well as the easiest to understand, is using it to show emphasis on comments thatcouldbe done with commas. Before we delve into a few examples, note that a lot of times people will simply try and add em-dashes in place of commas, which is...
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'?
Hyphen use While we said above that the em dash, also called the “common dash,” is the most common of the true dashes, hyphens show up more frequently in text. They have a variety of uses. Hyphens are used to link elements in compound words. a baker-owner In some words, a hyp...
However, em dashes are more emphatic than colons. When you want to generate strong emotion in your writing or create a more casual tone, use em dashes. Compare these sentences: He is afraid of two things: spiders and senior prom. He is afraid of two things—spiders and senior prom. ...
Step two (optional):Once you have chosen your object or image, brainstorm words, particularlyadjectivesorverbs, that you associate with the object. It is best to do this while looking at the thing itself, either while outside in nature or at a picture of the thing. You can always useThe...
You're now armed with six ways to use em dashes (and a seventh, if you're feeling bold). But when should youavoidusing an em dash? When to Avoid Em Dashes Em dashes are wonderful little pieces of punctuation, but like any special treat, youcanhavetoo much of a good thing. ...
Semicolons, colons, and dashes always go outside the closing quotation mark. Periods and commas always go inside the closing quotation mark (in American English). Question marks and exclamation points require you to think about the sentence a little to determine where they go. ...
We can also use em dashes to cut off thoughts or dialogue, as in the example below. “Then we went to this really nice café and he—oh! Look at that squirrel!” Examples of Using an Em Dash in a Sentence Here are some more examples em dashes in sentences. He asked—well, more...
There are actually two types of dashes, each with different uses: theem dash—also called the "long dash," according to Oxford Online Dictionaries—and theen dash, which doesn't have another name but falls between the hyphen and em dash in terms of length. The en dash is so named becau...