The editors blog is a participant in the amazon services llc associates program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to. To show how to wield this handy punctuation mark, ill start by comparing two sentences. Smashing grammar our grammar book, 2019 related pages. The chicago guide to grammar, usage, and punctuation by. Welcome to the latest edition of above the laws grammer pole. The em dash is typically used without spaces on either side, and that is the style used in this guide. Should you be using a space before and after an em dash. Dashes punctuation rules em dash en dash the blue book of. Its a minefield and wed rather leave this matter to the printers.
Dashes and hyphens look really similar, but they have very different functions in writing. Em dashes may be prone to overuse, but if you understand how beautiful the em dash can be, you wont want to overuse it. I will try to condense the various bits of information scattered throughout cmos. There are en dashes short, em dashes medium, and 2. Arrows to the heart grammar girl quick and dirty tips. According to the section on dashes in the tenth edition of the blue book of grammar and punctuation, an en dash, roughly the width of an n, is a little longer than a hyphen. Improper em dash formation screams inexperience, but em dashes are simple to make, and all authors can become an expert in a few minutes.
Using em dashes instead of parentheses puts the focus on the information between the em dashes. Whats the difference between a hyphen, en dash, and em dash. Dashes are used to give emphasis to written ideas and are typed by using two hyphens. En dashes with compound adjectives, chicago manual of style. Because selfpublishers are responsible for everything that ends up in their books, you need to know what each of these characters means, the differences between hyphens, endashes and emdashes, and how to get them into your book in the right way.
The two most common dashes are the em dash and the en dash. Use one before the parenthetical information and one after it. Grammar girl s quick and dirty tips for better writing. Most word processing programs seem to easily handle hyphens and em dashes. Interrupting dialogue with action the editors blog. While magazines and books still use en dashes, they are handled differently by different publishers. Grammar girl, is determined to wipe out bad punctuationbut shes also determined to make the process as painless as possible. It would be a better choice if that sentence were part of a mystery novel where aardvark has been attacked with chocolate pudding, and the police.
We will invite susan she is the new girl next door to our party. This article is about em dashes no spaces enjoy your reading. They can be used on their own or in pairs to offset a word or phrase. Yet many style and grammar resources show the same way to punctuate dialogue interruptionsmark off the interruption with a pair of dashes. Before we get into the em dash and how it can basically be used for most other punctuation marks, lets have a hearttoheart conversation about moderation. The en dash is often used to indicate spans of time or ranges of numbers. The farlex grammar book english punctuation dashes dashes what is a 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. The size difference between en dashes and hyphens can be very difficult to spot. Em dashes so called because they are at least historically the width of the character m are used for emphasis or interruption.
We use emdashes to add emphasis to the size of the car. Mignon fogarty is the founder of quick and dirty tips and the author of seven books on language, including the new york times bestseller. When you write a sentence with one em dash, check that at least one side is an independent clause. Em dashes set apart parenthetical phrases or clauses in a sentence. En dashes may look similar to em dashes, but they function in a much different way. Dashes, like commas, semicolons, colons, ellipses, and parentheses, indicate added emphasis, an interruption, or an abrupt change of thought. Dashes are used to extend a sentence to replace colons, semicolons, or three dots. Those long straight lines draw your eye and hold your attention. A grammar guide is a short, wellwritten ebook on grammar that will appeal to authors and bloggers alike. The recommendation in the chicago manual of style is quite clear. Writers love em dashes as much as hunters love swiss army knives.
Long dashes what grammarians call em dashes are dramatic. Experienced writers know that these marks are not interchangeable. 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. Em dashthat s the long dash, and as grammarist says, em dashes set apart parenthetical phrases or clauses in a sentence. An em dash is longer than an en dash and three times as long as a hyphen. Em dashes save writers from making sentences awkward or cluttered with punctuation. Although many publishing houses have their own inhouse style or grammar guides stipulating how to treat serial commas or ellipses or em dashes, the following primer will guarantee you a manuscript thats clean enough to impress any nitpicking editor even if she later changes it to reflect the publishing houses style choices.
Em dashes are often used to set off parenthetical information. Use a dash to show a break in thought or sentence structure. Recall that en dashes are slightly shorter in length than em dashes. How to use long and short dashes in your writing dummies. If youre anything like me, you might typically use guesswork on a good day or impatiently plump for the hyphen on a bad day, but this is hardly ideal, is often incorrect, and just makes work for a conscientious copy editor. Note how dashes subtly change the tone of the following sentences. The term em dash is a printers term meaning the width of the letter m. Thousands of childrenlike the girl in this photographhave been left homeless. Pay close attention to how the usage can help you notice an en dash. Online sensation grammar girl makes punctuation fun and easy in grammar girl s punctuation 911.
Emdashes, founded in 2004, was the first online community devoted to the writers, artists, history, and readers of the new yorker. For example, em dashes are used when a parenthetical remark contains an internal comma or would otherwise sound awkward if enclosed by commas. Fogarty is the founder of quick and dirty tips and the author of seven books on language, including the new york times bestseller grammar girls quick and. There are two similar but distinct punctuation marks called dashes. 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. Putting spaces before and after an em dash is a matter of preference. Hyphens versus dashes with examples hyphens versus dashes whats the difference between a hyphen and dash. Reading this ebook was a great refresher course for me, which covered the use of commas, periods, semicolons and dashes.
Understand not only how to form em dashes, but also the difference between american and british usage. The em dash is perhaps the most versatile punctuation mark. Three horizontal bars of punctuation, of different lengths, but which to choose for which job. Most newspapers, however, set the em dash off with a single space on each side. The en dash takes up a width equal to the letter n. If neither side can stand alone, the sentence isnt working. Although many people call the hyphen a dash, dash refers to another group of horizontal lines in text. It is useful and versatile, and too few writers make use of it. Dashes, also called em dashes to differentiate them from en dashes, indicate a break that is more emphatic than those designated with a comma or colon. Em dashes, en dashes and hyphens mistakes writers make.
And of course, some of the best em dash examples exist in the world of literature. 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. Whether youve loved the book or not, if you give your honest and detailed thoughts then people. The result is a landmark resource that will offer clear guidelines to students, writers, and editors alike. This is surprising considering that this punctuation mark is highly versatile and a favorite of skilled writers. You are the friend, the only friend, who offered to help me. Em dashes are often used to set offparenthetical information.
Punk label em dash music grammar girl on dashes honorary dasher anil dash finally. Dashes, colons, and commas grammar girl quick and dirty tips. The em dash, aka possibly the most adaptable and intuitive punctuation mark there is, gets a lot of loveand the occasional bit of hate. Turns out the em dash also known as an m dash, mrule, the long dash, or, in the grammatical slang circles, mutton, and i am not making that up is just that extended dash you see when there is a break in narration or conversation. Find out when to use dashes and when to use colons with grammar girl s. Feb 6, 2012 explore realgrammargirls board grammar girl. First of all, there are three lengths of what are all more or less dashes. When you get to the information contained between the emdashes, add a little bit of humph as you enunciate each word. Grammar girls quick and dirty tips for better writing by. You might call it the bad boy, or cool girl, of punctuation. Top tips common mistakes more top tips writing plan writers rule book tolkiens top tips grammar mistakes inspiration novelists writing tools. These are the big brothers of hyphens but the little brothers of em dashes, and they have total middle. It is used for periods of time when you might otherwise use the word to. After consideration, we have decided to discontinue differentiating between the en and em dashes.
Em dashes can replace brackets and commas used for parenthesis. 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. Dont replace the second emdash as some tend to with a comma or semicolon. See more ideas about grammar and punctuation, grammar and teaching grammar. Daily grammar lesson 426 mechanics punctuation dashes.
This grammar lesson offers an explanation on the correct use of dashes and gives examples of dashes used in sentences. If you have been searching online for an ebook on grammar that is easy to understand, this one is for you. Find out whether you need spaces on either side of an emdash. Depending on the context, the em dash can take the place of commas, parentheses, or colons. When you write a sentence with two em dashes, cover up the words between the dashes and see if the sentence makes sense without them. The chicago guide to grammar, usage, and punctuation is a magisterial work, the culmination of garners lifelong study of the english language. 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 girls quick and dirty tips for better writing. 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. Grammar girl s quick and dirty tips for better writing book. Otherwise, you may find yourself guilty of making funny punctuation mistakes.
Hyphens, en dashes, em dashes the chicago manual of. Find all the books, read about the author, and more. The emdashes convey a sense of speed and pace better than quotation marks, especially when there is interruption. In this use, em dashes are similar to commas and parentheses, but there are subtle differences. If you find yourself getting stumped on issues such as these issues. Em dashes, like exclamation points, can be overused simply because they are so versatile. 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. Dashes, colons, and commas can change the way your sentences feel. Joyce didnt invent emdash dialogue stylingit was already being used in. Dashes versus colons grammar girl quick and dirty tips. Get it write explains and offers many more free articles on english grammar and usage. Using the en dash to indicate spans of time or ranges of numbers. For more information about hyphenation and compound words, see hyphens and compounds. Read also about the difference between dashes and hyphens.
Then replace the emdashes with parentheses and reread the sentence without adding any emphasis to the phrase in parentheses. The most common types of dashes are the en dash and the em dash. The em dash is a bit of a jerk replace it whenever. Types of dashes there are several kinds of dashes, differing from one another in length. What is the difference in usage between an em dash and an en dash.
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