How To Use Dashes With Commas

Dashes replace otherwise mandatory punctuation such as the commas after iowa and 2013 in the following examples.

How to use dashes with commas. Generally speaking the dash does not have a unique role. In general you can think of parentheses commas and dashes as a continuum of marks. Use a dash to cut off dialogue. Let s start with those quiet parentheses. Words and phrases between dashes are not generally part of the subject.

You use them to surround something that seems a bit out of place in the sentence an aside a clarification or a commentary. Use a longer em dash to join independent clauses with words like and but as or and for. A colon can be used immediately after the greeting in a formal letter less formal letters tend to use a comma in this location. 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.

Use an en dash when you need to connect terms that are already hyphenated or when you are using a two word phrase as a modifier. When used to extend a sentence a dash can replace a semicolon a colon or three dots used as a pause for effect. Joe and his trusty mutt was always welcome. To properly use a dash in an english sentence start by identifying which dash you should use. It is usually used as an alternative to another type of punctuation.

Use dashes in place of a comma em dashes can be used in pairs to replace commas when writing a parenthetical or interruptive phrase. First the dash can be used where commas or parentheses might be used as an aside or interruption in the middle of a sentence. 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. When a thought is left unfinished however a dash should be used instead. An em dash is made by typing two hyphens.

When the dash is used in this way it creates a compound adjective. The dashes have a slightly more emphatic feel making the reader focus on this information that is set inside the special marks. The man from ames iowa arrived. Using the en dash to denote a connection the en dash may also be used to indicate a connection between two words. To whom it may concern.