![]() ![]() Em dashes are used in place of commas or parentheses to emphasize or draw attention to parenthetical or amplifying material.“That is-I suppose it is concerning.” The Em Dash in Action: Attention Must Be Paid “Of course you have a point,” Mabel murmured. “That the bakers fail to recognize the crucial importance of the cheese Danish-” An em dash can indicate interrupted speech or a speaker’s confusion or hesitation.Mabel the Cat was delighted with the assortment of pastries the new bakery featured, but Harry the Dog-he felt otherwise. An em dash can mark an abrupt change or break in the structure of a sentence.How to type one, however, depends on your machine. This website prefers the latter, its style requiring the closely held em dash in running text. ![]() Most newspapers insert a space before and after the dash, and many popular magazines do the same, but most books and journals omit spacing, closing whatever comes before and after the em dash right up next to it. The em dash is sometimes considered a less formal equivalent of the colon and parenthesis, but in truth it’s used in all kinds of writing, including the most formal-the choice of which mark to use is really a matter of personal preference. ![]() Like a colon, an em dash introduces a clause that explains or expands upon something that precedes it. Like commas and parentheses, em dashes set off extra information, such as examples, explanatory or descriptive phrases, or supplemental facts. The em dash can function like a comma, a colon, or parenthesis. It looks like - or sometimes (as when one’s word processing program fails to convert it) - and it’s called the “common dash,” or “em dash.” The two names are well-earned this dash is the most common true dash, and it’s the approximate width of a capital M. There are various punctuation items that can be described as dashes, and we will get to them all, but we’ll begin with the most useful, and most used. They take the reader aside, and then draw that reader to the next bit like a good dance partner in the lead. The 621 g diamond is the largest in the world.Among punctuation marks, dashes have a certain panache. The 621-gram diamond is the largest in the world. Weather predictions are about 50 percent accurate. The 621-gram diamond is the largest in the world.Ħ. Weather predictions are about 50-percent accurate.ĥ. She served the drinks in 16 ounce mugs.Ĥ. In those cases, the stylebook should serve as the writer’s guiding authority.Ĭorrect the following sentences if needed. Written English in specialized fields such as healthcare, education, and science often adheres to its own specific stylebook. Six-centimeter caterpillar ( Note that we spelled the number here because it’s less than ten and not used with a symbol or abbreviation.) Such usage is standard in mathematical, statistical, technical, or scientific text, where physical quantities and units of time are expressed in numerals, whether whole numbers or fractions, and almost always followed by an abbreviated form of the unit … Note that hyphens are never used between the numeral and the abbreviation or symbol, even when they are in adjectival form.”ġ00 m dash ( Note that CMOS uses a period when abbreviating English units but not when abbreviating metric units.)ĬMOS further advises using a hyphen when the unit, abbreviation, or symbol is spelled out, with the exception of percent. CMOS’s stance can be a bit confusing at times we hope to clarify it in this article.Īccording to CMOS, “if an abbreviation or a symbol is used for the unit of measure, the quantity is always expressed by a numeral. In addressing this topic, we side closer to the 16 th edition of The Chicago Manual of Style. For example, which of the following are correct? This means our guidance for our current hyphen topic may differ from the recommendations you may find in research and scientific stylebooks.Īn issue that still challenges many writers concerns the use and placement of hyphens with numbers and units of measure. Those guidelines likewise look to reinforce a precise and articulate use of the language. aims to help define common written English that applies proper, generally accepted rules. Hyphenation with Numbers and Units of Measureįew punctuation marks prompt as much debate and discussion about when and where to place them as the hyphen does. ![]()
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