![]() ![]() Use dashes to attract emphasis to the content of the parentheses. Dashes are less formal than parentheses, and they’re also more noticeable. Place a pair of dashes in the same spot as you’d put parentheses. In such cases, you can use em dashes instead of a comma.Ĭonfusing Sentence: The three of us, Laura, Jenny, and I, went on a 3-day trip last month.Ĭlear Sentence: The three of us - Laura, Jenny, and I - went on a 3-day trip last month. But when you have multiple commas in an appositive, the content can confuse the reader. Dashes have a slightly more emphatic feel, making the reader focus on the information placed inside the special marks.Ĭommas usually balance appositives, which are small segments of information for clarification. When writing a parenthetical phrase, you can use dashes in pairs to replace commas. Let’s look at two common instances where an em dash can be replaced in place of different punctuation. An em dash can be used as a comma, parentheses, or colon, although it has a somewhat different effect in each case. However, this punctuation is more like a semicolon which is underutilized in writing. When to Use an Em Dash?Įm dashes have various uses and can be used in place of other punctuations. The narrowest of all these dashes is a hyphen (-). It has a similar width as a capital letter N. On the other hand, it has another variation named an “en dash (–),” which is slightly narrower. In fact, the dash (-) is named for its length as it is the same width as the capital letter M in the alphabet. Despite its versatility, this dash differs from other hyphens and dashes significantly in both usage and appearance. ![]() The dash, specifically an em dash, is the most versatile punctuation mark. ![]() To understand the difference, here’s a quick run-down on the usage of an em dash and colon. The confusion between a colon, semi-colon, or dash is pretty common. Have you ever wondered when an em dash or colon should be used in a sentence? Or what is the difference between the two punctuations? Well, that depends entirely on how you want to present your data. ![]()
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