![]() The em dash affects the tone of this sentence. When her father arrived-a half-hour later than expected-Liza’s party began.When her father arrived, a half-hour later than expected, Liza’s party began.That makes em dash rules easy to remember-remember EM for “emphasize.” I could hear my English professor’s mantra in my mind-poignancy over word count.Įm dashes can replace commas when the commas are used to offset thoughts or interject extra information.I could hear my English professor’s mantra in my mind: poignancy over word count.They also stand out more-our brains pick up on the negative space, which adds emphasis to the end of your sentence. While colons are formal, em dashes are more conversational. We bought tablecloths in our wedding colors-teal, purple, and yellow-to brighten up the venue.Ĭolons are often used, similarly to em dashes, to offset thoughts and extra information, but they are used at the end of a clause.We bought tablecloths in our wedding colors (teal, purple, and yellow) to brighten up the venue.Here’s how you use em dashes to replace parentheses. Let’s look at how an em dash can replace these. When parentheses are used to offset thoughts within a sentence, em dashes can take their place to make your writing less formal.Īn em dash is used to offset thoughts in sentences, much like colons, parentheses, and commas. Parentheses come across as being formal because they are most often used in academic and technical writing, so they may not match the voice of your piece. What Is a Parenthetical Dash?Ī parenthetical dash (em dash) offsets content in a sentence that might otherwise belong in parentheses. They all have different uses in English grammar. Remember, em dashes are not interchangeable with en dashes and hyphens. ProWritingAid’s Consistency Report can help you make sure you aren’t using an en dash or double hyphen when you mean to use an em dash. It is important to be consistent when using dashes. The em dash is bigger than an en dash, which is the width of the letter N. It gets its name from its size which is the width of the letter M when typed. It’s a long dash, the length of two connected hyphens. The em dash triggers readers’ brains to insert a slightly longer pause, which can aid in reading comprehension. The em dash can be used in place of commas, colons, semicolons, and parentheses to increase sentence variety and readability. Examples of Using an Em Dash in a Sentence.
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