How To Use Dashes With Commas

Use dashes in place of a comma em dashes can be used in pairs to replace commas when writing a parenthetical or interruptive phrase.

How to use dashes with commas. For example i never said he began when typing a completed sentence a comma precedes the closing quotation mark and the attribution. Remember that the dash is considered more jarring than using commas or parentheses so consider which punctuation achieves the desired effect. Please accept my application for the position advertised in the news and observer. A colon can be used immediately after the greeting in a formal letter less formal letters tend to use a comma in this location. Let s start with those quiet parentheses.

Generally speaking the dash does not have a unique role. An em dash is made by typing two hyphens. To properly use a dash in an english sentence start by identifying which dash you should use. 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. Dashes replace otherwise mandatory punctuation such as the commas after iowa and 2013 in the following examples.

You use them to surround something that seems a bit out of place in the sentence an aside a clarification or a commentary. It is usually used as an alternative to another type of punctuation. When used to extend a sentence a dash can replace a semicolon a colon or three dots used as a pause for effect. Place em dashes around non essential information or a list in the middle of a sentence like you would with commas. When a thought is left unfinished however a dash should be used instead.

Joe and his trusty mutt was always welcome. In general you can think of parentheses commas and dashes as a continuum of marks. When used as parentheses dashes are alternatives to brackets or commas. 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 the dash is used in this way it creates a compound adjective.

First the dash can be used where commas or parentheses might be used as an aside or interruption in the middle of a sentence. The man from ames iowa arrived. Use a dash to cut off dialogue. The dashes have a slightly more emphatic feel making the reader focus on this information that is set inside the special marks. Words and phrases between dashes are not generally part of the subject.