How To Use Long Dashes In Writing
There are three forms of dashes.
How to use long dashes in writing. You can use these dashes in your writing to signify breaks dialogue and much more. Em dash other names. Em dash symbol em dash alt code. As one commentator has noted dashes in her work are either long or short. You can use a colon to connect two sentences when the second sentence summarizes sharpens or explains the first.
Here are some examples. A long dash s primary job is to tell the reader that you ve jumped tracks onto a new though related subject just for a moment. Long dashes in writing. Note that if you use colons this way too often it can break up the flow of your writing. Do not confuse a dash with a hyphen which is shorter.
This grammar lesson offers an explanation on the correct use of dashes and gives examples of dashes used in sentences. Use a dash to show a pause or break in meaning in the middle of a sentence. Em dash shortcut windows ctrl alt minus on numeric keypad em dash shortcut mac command m. A good way to remember the difference between these two dashes is to visualize the en dash as the length of the letter n and the em dash as the length of the letter m. Both sentences should be complete and their content should be very closely related.
When a sentence begins with an independent clause and ends with a list you can use a colon between the clause and the list. Dashes are used to separate groups of words not to separate parts of words like a hyphen does. Use a longer em dash to join independent clauses with words like and but as or and for. So don t get carried away with your colons. Em en and the double hyphen.
Dashes can also be used as parenthesis. Use an em dash to bring focus to a list. Sometimes vertical as if to indicate musical phrasing and often elongated periods as if to indicate a slightly different kind of pause dickinson uses dashes musically but also to create a sense of the indefinite a different kind of pause an interruption of. To properly use a dash in an english sentence start by identifying which dash you should use. This is a punctuation lesson on using dashes.