How To Use Dashes Instead Of Commas

After a split second of hesitation the second baseman leaped for the ball or rather limped for it.

How to use dashes instead of commas. When a thought is left unfinished however a dash should be used instead. So it s not a matter of it ever being correct to use a dash. To whom it may concern. Use a longer em dash to join independent clauses with words like and but as or and for. A dash may or may not have a space on either side of it.

An em dash is made by typing two hyphens. Please accept my application for the position advertised in the news and observer. Place em dashes around non essential information or a list in the middle of a sentence like you would with commas. A dash is a horizontal line that shows a pause or break in meaning or that represents missing words or letters. Parenthetical phrase with commas.

Parentheses are the quiet whisper of an aside commas are the conversational voice of a friend walking by your desk and dashes are the yowl of a pirate dashing into a fray. You use them to surround something that seems a bit out of place in the sentence an aside a clarification or a commentary. For instance em dashes can replace parentheses at the end of a sentence or when multiple commas appear in a parenthetical phrase. Let s start with those quiet parentheses. To properly use a dash in an english sentence start by identifying which dash you should use.

Use a dash in a sentence to set off parenthetical information and provide emphasis. The dashes have a slightly more emphatic feel making the reader focus on this information that is set inside the special marks. For example i never said he began when typing a completed sentence a comma precedes the closing quotation mark and the attribution. Using a colon between a verb and its object or complement. Use a dash to cut off dialogue.

There s never a requirement to use a dash. Em dashes save the day when other punctuation would be awkward. You could live your whole life and write reams of english and never use it. Note that dashes are rather informal and should be used carefully in writing. It s entirely a matter of personal style.