Once upon a time, a girl named goldilocks was walking through the forest and she came across a house that belonged to three types of dash. Long dashes what grammarians call em dashes are dramatic. The first contained an em dash the width of the letter m, and also known as the long dash. In this sentence you could use a comma, a dash, or a colon. Arrows to the heart grammar girl quick and dirty tips. Learn more about the difference between em dashes and en dashes here. Experienced writers know that these marks are not interchangeable.
Types of dashes and hyphens the four main dash like characters are a hyphen, an em dash, an en dash, and a minus sign. The emdash may also be used when there is an interruption in the thought of the same speaker. Ellipsis versus the emdash september, 2011 february 7, 20 lisa j. Note how dashes subtly change the tone of the following sentences. Brackets, dashes, ellipses, hyphens grammar and punctuation. If youre writing text in a program or on a website where the em dash character is completely unavailable, use two hyphens together to signify an em dash. The dash is a punctuation mark that is similar in appearance to the hyphen and minus sign but differs from these symbols in length and, in some fonts, height above the baseline.
If you want to use the correct dash or hyphen in stack exchange comments, just use the appropriate html entity. So in 9point type, an em dash is nine points wide, while in 24point type the em. For example, em dashes are used when a parenthetical remark contains an internal comma or would otherwise sound awkward if enclosed by commas. See more ideas about grammar, english grammar and grammar and punctuation.
It is, in fact, the width of a typesetters letter n, whereas the em dash is the width of the letter mthus their names. To show how to wield this handy punctuation mark, ill start by comparing two sentences. Think of a colon as part of the sentence that just ambles along. Dashes are similar to hyphens, but differ from them primarily in length, and serve different functions. It is used to separate clauses, concepts, or thoughts, rather than words or syllables. One em is the same length as the fonts height which is typically measured in points. A hyphen is a standard key on the keyboard of a computer. Find out whether you need spaces on either side of an emdash. The two main uses of en dashes are to indicate number ranges and to act as a kind of superhyphen for compound modifiers. First of all, there are three lengths of what are all more or less dashes. Long dash vs short dash vs hyphen when to use what. Specifically, the en dash is used when signifying a range of numbers or other values. The may 1, 20, edition of the ames sentinel arrived in june. Its also important that when you set off a phrase using em dashes that you used one emdash immediately after the noun the phrase is describing and one immediately after the phrase.
It can add a spiceor a dash, if you willto a sentence by adding emphasis to certain words and phrases. It differentiates, for example, between dashes and the two different types of hyphen. If youre writing for a newspaper, magazine, or website that uses associated. In microsoft word, the en dash is created between alphanumeric characters by entering a space, two strokes of the dash key, and then another space. And yes, the en dash is named because its the width of the letter n. If you begin a line with an em dash or ellipsis, the only reason you would insert a space before is to drive your editor nuts. The dash, slash, ellipses, and brackets are marks that serve specific purposes as indicated below. They can be used on their own or in pairs to offset a word or phrase. In this use, em dashes are similar to commas and parentheses, but there are subtle differences. American english uses an em dashwithout spacesfor asides and appositives. The em dash, em rule, or mutton is longer than an en dash.
When using the em dash and the en dash you should not leave any spaces between the punctuation and the next word. Place the text cursor after the em dash or en dash, then press the backspace key. Dec 23, 2011 here at above the law, we prefer using a space before and after our em dashes its less visually disruptive. We use em dashes to add emphasis to the size of the car. Dashes, colons, and commas can change the way your sentences feel. Depending on the sentence, the emdash can have a similar function to parentheses, colons, commas, and even semicolons. You could write the sentence a different way, of course, im heading. An em dash is the longer of the two dashes, and it takes the place of commas, parentheses or colons. My question, grammar cat, concerns the use of the emdash. The en dash is used to represent a span or range of numbers, dates, or time. The most common versions of the dash are the en dash, longer than a hyphen. Dont leave the two hyphens if they dont merge to form the em dash. Thousands of childrenlike the girl in this photographhave been left homeless.
Martha nell smith, a professor of english at the university of maryland and the author of five books on poet emily dickinson the original em dash. Style guidelines vary as to whether or not to use an ending period if the ellipsis is at the end of. The publication manual shows specific uses for hyphens, en dashes, and em dashes. Apr 24, 2009 the difference between a colon and a dash is pretty subtle. The dash can clear a sentence of needless punctuation because of its multitude of uses. School is based on the three rsreading, writing, and rithmetic. Foreword by mignon fogarty grammar girl xvii introduction xix. Using a single hyphen instead of an em dash can confuse readers and make your writing look unprofessional. As dashes do not feature on a standard keyboard, lots of people use hyphens instead of dashes. Depending on the context, the em dash can take the place of commas, parentheses, or colons. Its a littleknown fact that dashes come in different sizes. Notwithstanding its versatility, the em dash is best limited to two appearances per sentence.
Dec 10, 2014 an em dash is not preceded or followed by a space. Joyce didnt invent emdash dialogue stylingit was already being used in. This explanation is not intended to be exhaustive for much more, see chapter 6 in cmos, but i do hope that it helps to frame the different potential of each length of dash. Read also about the difference between dashes and hyphens. Likewise, if the author types two hyphens to represent an em dash, the double hyphen will be converted to a proper em dash. The function of the em dash the em dash is usually an alternative to another punctuation mark. En and em dashes and hyphens one thing editors do is to fuss with punctuation, especially dashes. An emdash is typically used as a standin for a comma or parenthesis to separate out phrasesor even just a wordin a sentence for various reasons e. How to insert an en dash or em dash in microsoft word. The en dash is slightly wider than the hyphen but narrower than the em dash. Remember, em dashes are not interchangeable with hyphens. All cheap jabs to the majestic semicolon aside, this is a great question.
The em dash also acts as the longest stop or pause in a sentence compared to the other three dashes, which all serve to join parts of sentences rather than break up a sentence and stop the. It is used for periods of time when you might otherwise use to. Whats the difference between a hyphen, en dash, and em dash. Its also important that when you set off a phrase using emdashes that you used one emdash immediately after the noun the phrase is describing and one immediately after the phrase. A more accurate title would probably be grammar girl s quick and dirty tips for better grammar. Writers love em dashes as much as hunters love swiss army knives. However, if you did that, youd be missing an opportunity to showcase your writing skills and, particularly for those times when the longest dash the em dash ought to be used, youd be diminishing the clarity of your writing too. Today ill explain the difference between dashes, commas, and parentheses. Simply paste or write your text below and click check my writing to get feedback on your writing. I will try to condense the various bits of information scattered throughout cmos.
Otherwise, you may find yourself guilty of making funny punctuation mistakes the first basic concept to get your head. Brackets, dashes, ellipses, hyphens this page discusses many of the less often discussed types of punctuation. If your keyboard cant produce a dash, you will have to resort to a hyphen as a standin. Em dashes are often used to set off parenthetical information. The em dash serves an entirely different function than the hyphen and en dash, which i described in the previous blog. There are two similar but distinct punctuation marks called dashes. Its a minefield and wed rather leave this matter to the printers. The character is called an em dash because it is one em wide, a length that varies depending on the font size. The en dash is slightly longer than the hyphen but not as long as the em dash. How to use long and short dashes in your writing dummies.
Dashes, if used incorrectly, can actually confuse readers not just bother detailoriented editors. Its quite janitorial in nature, but i suppose much of editing is. If your computer is unable to create this useful piece of punctuation you can use two hyphens as an acceptable way to indicate an em. Where the hyphen and en dash are used to join text, the em dash is used to.
The em dash is perhaps the most versatile punctuation mark. There werent a whole lot of actual writing tips, with the exception of a short chapter near the end with advice like avoid cliches like the plague. As you can see, the em dash is the longest of the three, and roughly the width of the letter m, which is how it got its name. How to use the hyphen, en dash and em dash ndash mdash, n. Dashes, like commas, semicolons, colons, ellipses, and parentheses, indicate added emphasis, an interruption, or an abrupt change of thought. You may encounter a supersized first cousin of the em dash if you work on texts that include bibliography sections. The length of the em dash corresponds to the width of the letter m. You might be wondering why ive paired the em dash with the ellipsis. I recommend this to anyone who writes fiction or nonfiction books or articles. In fact, dashes are different from hyphens, and they have a variety of forms.
Also, the em dash may serve as a sort of bullet point, as in this todo list. Against all odds, petethe unluckiest man alivewon the lottery. Essentially, it is a form of pause punctuation that can take the place of a comma, a semicolon. A long dashs primary job is to tell the reader that. En dash there is a feather of a difference between an em dash and an en dash. An em dash, or long dash, is used in pairs, to mark off information or ideas that are not essential to an understanding of the rest of the sentence. Em dashthats the long dash, and as grammarist says, em dashes set apart parenthetical phrases or clauses in a sentence. Few keyboards have a dash, but a word processor can usually produce one in one way or another. This grammar lesson offers an explanation on the correct use of dashes and gives examples of dashes used in sentences. She is an inductee in the podcasting hall of fame, and the show is a fivetime winner of best education podcast in the podcast awards. An en dash, roughly the width of an n, is a little longer than a hyphen. Although many people call the hyphen a dash, dash refers to another group of horizontal lines in text. Please consult your favorite grammar book or blog for notes.
In informal writing, em dashes may replace commas, semicolons, colons, and parentheses to indicate added emphasis, an. Shes a lovely girl, butand you may hate me for saying soshe cannot dance for the life of her. The farlex grammar book english punctuation dashes dashes what is a dash. My book is full of them because it seemed to reflect how i think, but i wonder if there are conventions for good usage versus, for example, the dry, uninteresting semicolon. I am talking about the emdash, which looks like two hyphens connected into one long line. En dash definition of en dash by the free dictionary. En dash em dash 4 capitalization 70 beginning a sentence or quoted sentence proper nouns titles. Get it write explains and offers many more free articles on english grammar and usage.
The chicago manual of style online is the venerable, timetested guide to style, usage, and grammar in an accessible online format. If you are uncertain how to insert an en dash symbol, you can use a hyphen instead. There are many uses of the en and em dash and also many ways to form these dashes using your computer. To type an em dash on a macintosh keyboard, use shiftoptionhyphen.
When should i use an emdash, an endash, and a hyphen. Mar 10, 2018 its easy to use the hyphen, em dash and en dash also known as n dash and m dash, or n dash and m dash to make your writing flow better. An em dash is longer than an en dash and three times as long as a hyphen. Short dashes technically, en dashes arent as showy as their wider cousins, but theyre still useful. Use em dashes to set off parenthetical information. Grammar girl xvii introduction xix 1grammar 1 finding subjects and verbs 1 finding verbs. Its alphabetical cousin, the en dash, is about the same width as the letter n. The emdash is not used when a comment by the narrator is inserted in dialog. Mignon fogarty is the founder of quick and dirty tips and the author of seven books on language, including the new york times bestseller grammar girl s quick and dirty tips for better writing. We also use the en dash, which is the size of an uppercase n.
The two most common dashes are the em dash and the en dash. Squiggly has two hobbies and, now im going to tell you what they are, colon cooking. An em dash is about the length of a lower case m, which is how its name was derived. It may or may not be wise to let teenagers read joyce, but for me the damage was. The blue book of grammar and punctuation an easytouse guide with clear rules, realworld examples. British english uses an en dash with spaces instead of an em dash for asides and appositives. Em dashes set apart parenthetical phrases or clauses in a sentence. Or, less commonly, with the comma, the colon, and the parenthesis.
Grammar girls quick and dirty tips for better writing by. Those long straight lines draw your eye and hold your attention. A writers use of dashes hyphens, em dashes, and en dashes is one of the typographical elements that jump out at editors. The most common versions of the dash are the en dash.
The two hobbies before the colon are defined after the colon as cooking and bothering aardvark a dash also introduces extra material, but, well, a dash is quite a dramatic punctuation mark. Em dashes so called because they are at least historically the width of the character m are used for emphasis or interruption. The dash, slash, ellipses, and brackets tip sheet butte. It is useful and versatile, and too few writers make use of it. Dashes, colons, and commas grammar girl quick and dirty tips. When and how to use the dash, the en dash, and the em dash. The following explanations offer the most common uses and methods for forming these dashes. Doesnt the em dash usually get grouped with the en dash and the hyphen. Sep 15, 2016 we use emdashes to add emphasis to the size of the car. Poetry is a deal of joy and pain and wonder, with a dash of the dictionary. In most american print and ebooks, correct em dash formation is done by using two hyphens with no spacing, which then becomes an em dash also called the long dash in most word processing programs as you continue typing. If your word document has an em dash or en dash and you want to remove it, do one of the following.
The typical computer keyboard lacks a dedicated key for the en dash, though most word processors provide a means for its insertion. Sometimes confused with the hyphen, a dash comes between words as a. A colon informs readers that something more is coming along. We use it most commonly to indicate inclusive dates and numbers. Hyphens, en dashes, em dashes the chicago manual of.
For example, em dashes are used when a parenthetical remark contains an internal comma or would otherwise sound awkward if. The em dash is the length of a lower case letter m and the en dash is the length of the letter n. People sometimes use the terms hyphen and dash interchangeably, but theres a subtle distinction. Most folks know about the hyphen, but fewer are familiar with the em dash and the en dash. They insert information into a sentence and introduce lists.
Jul 22, 2016 the 10 most common errors made by writers and how to fix them the seventh of a tenpart series. The dash, also called the em dash, is the long horizontal bar, much longer than a hyphen. Find out when to use dashes and when to use colons with grammar. Written with the wit, warmth, and accessibility that the podcasts are known for, grammar girl s quick and dirty tips for better writing covers the grammar rules and wordchoice guidelines that can confound even the best writers. Dashes replace otherwise mandatory punctuation, such as the commas after iowa and 20 in the following examples without dash. The dash the dash is used to set off additional material within a sentence, often in order to emphasize it, to set off appositives that contain commas, or to indicate missing words. Dashes versus colons grammar girl quick and dirty tips. Jan 01, 2008 grammar girl s quick and dirty tips for better writing book. The words after a colon define or clarify what came before the colon. The dash is used to set off additional material within a sentence, often in order to emphasize it, to set off appositives that contain commas, or to indicate missing words. Highlight the em dash or en dash using your mouse, then press the delete key. You are the friend, the only friend, who offered to help me. In appearance, an en dash is slightly longer than a.
You might call it the bad boy, or cool girl, of punctuation. Dashes are used to extend a sentence to replace colons, semicolons, or three dots. Posted in grammar blip tagged book design, dash, em dash, en dash, grammar, hyphen, novel, punctuation, writing 7 responses to en dash vs. In the eleventh edition of the blue book of grammar and punctuation february 2014, and on our website, we are letting the hyphen do the work of the en dash, and the em dash is simply now the dash or long dash. For example, in a bibliographic list, rather than repeating the same author over and over again, three consecutive em dashes also known as a 3em dash stand in for the authors name. What is the difference in usage between an em dash and an en dash. In appearance, an en dash is slightly longer than a hyphen, approximately the width of a capital n, while an em dash is slightly longer than an en dash. Figuratively speaking, the hyphen pulled the short end of the stick. Lastly, we have the em dash, which is the size of an uppercase m.
The en dash is a bit shorter than the em dash and serves a vastly different purpose when it comes to punctuation rules. Lets look at examples of dashes, the rules for using the en dash, and compare how dashes are used in writing. Dont replace the second emdash as some tend to with a comma or semicolon. It would be a better choice if that sentence were part of a mystery novel where aardvark has been. Hyphens, en dashes, em dashes the chicago manual of style. Stever robbins, the host of the getitdone guy podcast, has been writing a book, and. The em dash is the same length as the character m uppercase, and the en dash is same length as the letter n lowercase. May 16, 2019 the en dash is a little lesser known but no less important. The hyphen is, of course, directly on your keyboard.