How To Use Em Dashes
Use an em dash to join independent clauses.
How to use em dashes. An em dash can connect an independent clause with the related thought in. Does your sentence contain a list that is introduced by a pause in the middle if so you can use either an em dash or a colon the colon is more formal. Although many people call the hyphen a dash dash refers to another group of horizontal lines in text. Putting spaces before and after an em dash is a matter of preference. The two most common dashes are the em dash and the en dash.
Uses of the em dash. If you want to draw attention to the parenthetical content use dashes. Main em dash takeaways. Using em dashes instead of parentheses puts the focus on the information between the em dashes. Em dashes set apart parenthetical phrases or clauses in a sentence in this use em dashes are similar to commas and parentheses but there are subtle differences for example em dashes are used when a parenthetical remark contains an internal comma or would otherwise sound awkward if enclosed by commas.
If you want to include the parenthetical content more subtly use parentheses. The most common types of dashes are the en dash and the em dash. Em dashes in place of parentheses. Dashes are considered less formal than parentheses. Most commonly a dash connects an independent clause with another with a related thought plus a conjunction like or but yet as for and after the second dash.
They are much wider than en dashes and are also called long dashes. Em dashes look like this. Dashes are used to separate groups of words not to separate parts of words like a hyphen does. Use one before the parenthetical information and one after it. If you are on mac below is a shortcut to help you type the em dash sign in word.
Em dashes so called because they are at least historically the width of the character m are used for emphasis or interruption. There are three types of dashes the em dash the en dash and the hyphen. A pair of em dashes can replace a pair of parentheses. They are also more intrusive. Although colons and commas can serve the same function em dashes create a more dramatic effect.