M dash9/1/2023 Alternative: I have three favorite ice cream flavors: chocolate, strawberry, and caramel.I have three favorite ice cream flavors - chocolate, strawberry, and caramel.Alternative: The American flag has three colors: red, white, and blue.The American flag has three colors - red, white, and blue.Alternative: The horse, which had been missing for days, suddenly returned to the pasture.The horse - which had been missing for days - suddenly returned to the pasture.Alternative: Nobody knew who (or what) to blame for the accident.Nobody knew who - or what - to blame for the accident.Now let’s look at some em dash examples for each of the functions mentioned above: Express interruptions in speech or thought.You can use the em dash to do all of the following: Most newspapers and publications use closed em dashes, but the AP Style Guide recommends open em dashes. This means that you can choose to put a space on either side of the dash or not. Unlike most other forms of dashes, em dashes can be either open or closed. It is twice as long as the en dash and has some of the most unique uses. The em dash (sometimes written as “M Dash”) is the longest dash in English. In other words, you should not leave an open space on either side of the dash. The director used a short–focal length lens to get the shot.Īs you can see in all of the examples above, figure dashes and em dashes almost never use spaces.The Nobel Prize–winning scientist made an incredible acceptance speech.The Pre–World War II era was a complicated time in the United States.However, if you need to connect a compound word to another word (compound or otherwise), you will have to use the en dash. In English, a hyphen is typically used to connect two related words, including compound nouns like Coca-Cola or self-confidence. The Hatfield–McCoy feud lasted for nearly three decades.The judges voted 5–4 in support of the new voting rights bill.When numbers or names illustrate a contrast, you can use the en dash to express this contrast quickly. Alternative: For your assignment, you will need to read pages 34 through 55 in your textbook.For your assignment, you will need to read pages 34–55 in your textbook.Alternative: The event will take place sometime from August to September.The event will take place sometime from August–September.Alternative: We will need between 10 and 15 boxes to fit all of our belongings.We will need 10–15 more boxes to fit all of our belongings.When used for a range of values, the en dash often replaces words like through, between…and or to. In fact, you can only use the en dash for a few different purposes: It is approximately twice as long as the figure dash and half as long as the em dash. The en dash (sometimes written as “N Dash”) is the standard form of dash punctuation in terms of size. However, if you need to write an English sentence with number sequences, you should definitely make use of the figure dash. Needless to say, figure dashes are not all that common in standard English writing. You will most often see (and use) the figure dash when writing phone numbers or similar number sequences. A figure dash looks and functions much like a hyphen. It is generally half the length of the standard en dash. The figure dash is the shortest dash in length. So, let’s look at the basic functions of the figure dash, en dash, em dash, and swung dash. Most dash types can function in multiple ways, which can make it even harder to know how or when to use a dash in a sentence. When to Use a Dash in a SentenceĪs previously mentioned, there are four types of dashes in English. However, for the purposes of linguistics, neither symbol is categorized as a dash. Hyphens are used to connect related words, while the minus symbol is used to signify subtraction in mathematics. Some sources count hyphens and minus symbols as dashes since they have a similar appearance. However, one could argue that there are even more types of dashes. There are four basic kinds of dashes in the English language: The dash symbol is a form of English punctuation. In today’s guide, we will evaluate when to use a dash in a sentence and look at some common examples of dash usage. In English, dashes can signify a number of different meanings. It’s difficult to find a newspaper article, book, essay, or just about any piece of English writing that doesn’t contain some form of the dash symbol.
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