An en dash is denoted as (–) Em dashes are longer than hyphens, but shorter than em dashes. Don’t put any spaces before and. Dashes should not be overused. Both spellings are many centuries old, and neither spelling was clearly prevalent on either side of the Atlantic until the second half of the 18th century. The correct use of question and exclamation marks. Em-dashes in Place of a Semicolon. To insert an interjection in the middle of a sentence, place one em dash on both sides of the interjected phrase. This method can get messy if you have more than two speakers in a conversation, so use it with care. The patient reported taking 15 (?) milligrams of alprazolam. –8:30 p. A colon is quieter; a dash is more emphatic and dramatic. 3 Answers Sorted by: 2 No, because the dash (which should properly be an M-dash, like this — ) is an interrupter. Being so versatile can create confusion if overused, therefore it is best limited to two appearances per sentence. If you want to stop -- from being turned into — (emdash) you need to use the + button and add a new rule to replace -- with -- (replace with itself) Or, right click in a text field and go to "Substitutions" and disable "Smart. For instance, you would render a character named Mr. “What are you talking about—wait, Johnny said it was Maria!”. Type another word. The em dash, on the other hand, is a colorful punctuation mark — it can be used to make a strong point! The comma is great for describing, listing, and linking clauses, but it is easy for commas. An em dash (—) is the longest of the three dashes and can be used to set off a break in the sentence, as well as add emphasis. On a Mac: En dash—press option+hyphen key. Joined: May 14, 2009. To show a break in narration or conversation in place of an ellipsis. Technically, the mark designating feet is a prime; the mark designating inches is a double prime. However, there is a specific use native speakers give to this Spanish punctuation mark: in emails or letters, greetings are written using colons, whereas in English you usually use a comma unless you’re being very formal. Em Dash — : ALT 0151; En Dash – : ALT 0150; Double Left Angle Quotation Mark « : ALT 0171 ; Double Right Angle Quotation Mark » : ALT 0187; Inverted Question Mark ¿ : ALT 0191; Inverted Exclamation Mark ¡ : ALT 0161; Symbol and Special Characters. Example: “I didn’t say—”. Typically I replace these special characters in a microsoft product first with replace. It can either become: Woman: without her, man is nothing. The hex number is case-insensitive,. apostrophe. What is a hyphen? It is a short horizontal line (-) used as a punctuation mark. En dashes are incredibly useful punctuation marks, used to add extra emphasis to a sentence or statement. An en dash (the shorter dash) expresses a range of values (times, years, dollar amounts). Like parentheses, the em dash can set off nonessential elements; but it does the parentheses one better—it can also set off essential elements. Type a single dash or hyphen. The main use of em dashes is to set off extra information in a sentence. (stenoscript) The dash may be written low, along the baseline, or high, at x-height, as convenient for whichever letters it links to. An ellipsis suggests a slight pause, as if one thing happens and then the other. Em dashes are the longest of the common dashes (I won’t be covering 2-em and 3-em dashes in this article) and are so named because they are the width of the letter “m. AP and AMA style guides are agreed: em dash goes inside the quotes, and that's your punctuation. You can use it at the end of a broken-off phrase, or if a. An em dash is the width of the letter "m" in the font and type size being used, and should never be used in place of an en dash or hyphen. En Dash Examples. In informal writing, feet and inches are sometimes expressed as, for example, 5′ 10″ (read: five feet and ten inches). These dashes differ not only in their length but also in the function they perform in a sentence. Em dashes for interruptions: Use em dashes when you are interrupting the main idea of a sentence. m. When injecting a descriptive clause into a sentence, you are free to use em dashes, commas, or parentheses. “I didn’t expect to — “An em dash or a pair of em dashes may indicate a sudden break in thought or sentence structure or an interruption in dialogue. The exclamation point is a mark of terminal punctuation. If you prefer, you can configure your keyboard in Windows to accept Unicode codepoint numbers, instead of "traditional". Use of it is more common in formal academic writing that must cite sources. 6. Our Rule 1 of Spacing with Punctuation states, “With a computer, use only one space following periods, commas, semicolons, colons, exclamation points, question marks, and quotation marks. In informal writing, feet and inches are sometimes expressed as, for example, 5′ 10″ (read: five feet and ten inches). On a PC, the em-dash is made by holding down the ALT key and typing 0151 on the number pad. The question mark needs to go after Language. c) He thinks that an apple a day keeps the doctor away. The web's most comprehensive guide to American punctuation. An em-dash is used to show a break in thought—not in velocity—within a sentence (for not the greatest example). ” The longer em dash (—) is used to separate extra information or mark a break in a sentence. This type of dash is usually used to omit a person's name or. In dialogue, question marks, exclamation points, and em dashes typically fall within closing quotation marks. Em dashes, in contrast, are frequently used to signal an abrupt change, suggest a pause, or set off a clause within a sentence. Mac. To illustrate, I’m going to reproduce the first sentence of this paragraph, but with a semicolon: 'Break/Fold Mark'. The correct use of em-dashes and ellipses. 🙽. They also can be used to focus a reader or highlight tone within a dialog. 1. So, they cannot be linked by comma (Commas are only used to link a dependent and an independent clause). Pre-electric typewriters normally had only the hyphen-width dash to apply to situations calling for em dashes, so the usual method in U. The em dash is perhaps the most versatile punctuation mark. I think the real question is whether it's allowed. En and em dashes are longer than the hyphen. An ellipsis here would show a delayed change in thought and is not correct. 2. ” No spaces on either side of the em dash. How to create en dashes and em dashes. They also establish a relationship between words and ideas. Use an em dash to join independent clauses. parentheses. The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. Dash: Dashes set off a series within a phrase: “Of the many breakfast options — omelets, waffles, pastries — he only wanted coffee”; indicate a break in thought: “Felipe’s is a popular eatery — in Harvard Square”; or attribute a quotation to an author: “‘You must do the thing you think you cannot do. Punctuation Em-dash before question mark. Nope, no need for spaces! In US English, there should only be a space before an em dash if it’s at the start of a sentence and after an em dash if it’s at the end of a sentence. Ah, the ol’ 疑問符 (ぎもんふ ) — gimonfu, a. . Resume the dialogue with another opening quotation mark, complete the dialogue, and end with a period and a closing quotation mark. En Dash Examples. An em dash is a versatile punctuation mark that looks like an extended dash. “Wait!” she shouted. 8. Fiber in the U. When interrupters fall midsentence, always use a pair of punctuation marks to surround them. e. Em dashes. Use an em dash to join independent clauses. In the native Mac word processor, Text Edit, you’ll have access to the. The dash is a great way to indicate an abrupt change of thought or a parenthetical statement, and sometimes this may be useful after a question is complete. 1. If you use it in academic writing, you might look unsure of yourself. Use an em dash (a symbol that is longer than a hyphen) when the speaker stops speaking on their own or is interrupted. A dash is longer than a hyphen and is commonly used to indicate a range or a pause. The em dash is perhaps the most versatile punctuation mark. ”. We met during the 2011 – 2012 school year. 857k 235 1581 1959. In addition, write the punctuation mark next to your translation. When it displays it in the application, the dash turns into a question mark !?!?!? I then have an Export button, which writes these back to a textfile. You may see an EN dash used in the same way as the EM dash. The most flexible and versatile punctuation mark—the Em Dash. g. " I know you can replace em dashes with — and n-dashes with – (which should be done on the input side of your database); I don't know what the correct replacement for the smart quotes would be. At the word level, hyphens differentiate parts of words to help in readability. It's difficult for me to judge the tone of the sentence examples you used, so I can't give a specific suggestion. The dashes are more prominent, and thus suggest a more prominent comment. Dashes are generally more abrupt and can signify a rapid change of topic. One other exception is dialogue, where authors will. )This would usually be at the end of a phrase or sentence, which means it will be next to a piece of punctuation. These two types of dashes serve different purposes: The EN dash, the shorter of the two dashes, is used to mark ranges. An em dash or colon is part of the same toolkit, but they serve slightly different purposes. A hyphen (-) is a punctuation mark used to connect two or more words (or parts of words) to show that they form one unit of sense—e. [Emphasis mine. You can use such punctuation as periods, commas, semi-colons, colons, parentheses, brackets, quotation marks, dashes, exclamation points, question marks and some others. The en-dash is commonly used to show range as in dates (e. "SAMPLE - TEXT". So I wouldn't say that the dash as an actor can perform the same roles as terminal punctuation, as periods or question marks or exclamation points, but. Authors can easily remember the difference. An em dash is a punctuation mark used to separate elements within a sentence, typically words or phrases that are too long to be separated by commas or need a dramatic pause during reading. It can be used in the middle of a sentence. Example: apple orchard–scented candle. Overuse of any tool will make your writing inelegant, but using the proper tool at the right time will help you generate pages that are well crafted and precisely assembled. Question marks, exclamation points, and dashes fall inside or outside closing quotations. Breaking dialogue into multiple paragraphs. JAWS is the most likely of the screen readers to read these kinds of punctuation marks. The word “em” is actually a typographical unit of measurement. If you want to use hyphens before and after your text, click AutoCorrect Options. Learn more about punctuation. I've never heard about en dashes being used for em dashes. Use dashes and ellipses to cut sentences off. I know I could—and probably should—just remove the question mark, having only the em dash for separation, but then that gets rid of that question-like tone I want the reader to have. Do not put a space before or after the dash. ) Serial Semi-Colon. It has two main functions. Note that in British English, the punctuation marks only go inside of the quotation marks if the punctuation is part of the quoted material, although many writers make an exception for periods. Rule #5. An em dash represents a longer pause—a bigger break—than a comma. ex. It’s a long dash, the length of two connected hyphens. Em dash character is not a part of ASCII character set. AP refers to these simply as dashes and requires a space on either side. The em dash does not mean pause. Nevertheless, you will have to use. Trademark ™ : ALT 0153;There are three types of dashes in writing used to convey different ideas in an engaging way. . The en dash, which is slightly shorter, and the em dash, which is the one you can see in the previous paragraph. The em dash symbol is a single, longer horizontal line — that should not be confused for an en dash - or a hyphen. W he n u sed i n pl a ce o f p a rentheses at t he end of a sentence, only a single dash is used. The good news is that the ACT isn’t going to test you on the differences between the two. The em dashes are used here to indicate that the information within them is rather shocking. There are enough exceptions to this general rule, however, to warrant the following chart, which shows nearly all of the scenarios you are likely to face. Always follow the punctuation rules in formal writing to make your work clearer and more readable. I've found questions asking about an em dash in quoted speech, and punctuation rules for em dashes in quotes, but this question is quite different. Your specific issue regards "smart quotes," "em dashes" and "en dashes. For more ALT codes for various signs and symbols, see ALT Codes for Miscellaneous Symbols. 1973. Em dash character is not a part of ASCII character set. The em dash triggers readers’ brains to insert a slightly longer pause, which can aid in reading comprehension. The en dash will appear in the text field where your cursor is. The word-processing program may form this automatically when two hyphens are typed together. The general rule is that a sentence ends with only one terminal punctuation mark. Em dashes can be used to. When a pair of em dashes sets off material ending with an exclamation point or a question mark, the mark is placed inside the dashes. Proper use of punctuation marks can greatly enhance the readability and effectiveness of written communication. You will only be tested on the rules of the em dash, which is what we’ll cover here. Improve this answer. figure dash – 8211: 2013 – en dash — 8212: 2014 — em dash ― 8213: 2015 : horizontal bar ‖ 8214: 2016 : double vertical line ‗ 8215: 2017 : double low line ‘ 8216: 2018 ‘ left single quotation mark ’ 8217: 2019 ’ right single quotation mark ‚ 8218: 201a ‚ single low-9 quotation mark ‛ 8219: 201b. (If you do, up vote that answer. The longer em dash (—) is used to separate extra information or mark a break in a sentence. Within moments of our first interaction — over. In MS Word, enable Num Lock and press Ctrl + Minus Key. Quotation from wiki ( Em dash) When an actual em dash is unavailable—as in the ASCII character set—a double ("--") or triple hyphen-minus ("---") is used. In general it is the same length as an em-dash, and so this is often used instead. By Jessica Bennett. […] All water from the streams; dead birds were found In wells a hundred feet below the ground Such was the season when the flower bloomed. Examples: 2009–2019. Upon firing the company’s non-salaried employees—and. The most common rule when using parenthetical phrases is to use the correct punctuation mark: commas, em dash, or a pair of parentheses. SQL Developer is Java based which does not use NLS_LANG settings but SQL*Plus does, so you have to set NLS_LANG properly. I'm working on being able to read transcripts of dialogue into R. Translation. , 1 May–13 June) To divide a compound adjective with two equal parts (e. In most situations, a colon is better than an em dash, but if the list is being tacked on to the end of a complete sentence, or feels like an aside (see above), then an em dash might make sense. Most likely it's an en dash or em dash rather than a real hyphen or minus symbol. An em dash or a pair of em dashes may indicate a sudden break in thought or sentence structure or an interruption in dialogue. It's a completely different use case. For instance, you would render a character named Mr. As an outcome those characters are generated in the excel as shown below, which contains a kind of question mark. Question mark. The correct punctuation would be: Jenny said, “That’s unbelievable!”. There are many ways to use dashes in writing. The shorter en dash (–) is used to mark ranges and with the meaning “to” in phrases like “Dover–Calais crossing. The em dash is as wide as the letter m—about twice as wide as a hyphen. Examples. When you want to highlight the end of your statement without giving it all to a colon, use an em dash. immediately recalled the books. If a comma is a quarter note rest, then an em dash is a half-note rest. An em dash or a pair of em dashes may indicate a sudden break in thought or sentence structure or an interruption in dialogue. A single em dash character or a tilde may also be used. Your specific issue regards "smart quotes," "em dashes" and "en dashes. These punctuation marks may fall outside of the closing quotation mark in some cases. There is a space before the first period and after the last period. Like commas and parentheses, em dashes often set off descriptive or parenthetical information. Write an en dash. ) when I included the Insert statement to store data retrieved from the final select statement to a table, the dash character is being replaced with another character. There are two kinds of dashes, the en dash, and the em dash (long dash). If you need to indicate that someone pauses in speech, say "John paused". " Until some more people post on this I'd take my post with a grain of salt. the question mark. 2. To type the — using the keyboard you can the Alt code from the shortcode section. Both Word and Scrivener automatically convert two consecutive hyphens (--) to an em-dash (—), the technical name for this punctuation mark. Typically I replace special characters with plain text but on some occasions desire to replace them with other. paxdiablo. [4] 3. However I run into a bump with special characters like curly quotes en and em dashes etc. If you format it properly—like this—it counts the words on both sides of the dash as just one word. A hyphen. According to CMOS, “in British usage, an en dash (with space before and after) is usually preferred to the em dash as punctuation in running text. The different styles of dashes include the en dash “–”, the em dash “—”, and the horizontal bar “―”. An em is simply a unit of measurement within the field of typography. 2, Period, Question Mark, Exclamation Point, Question Mark, Placement], is never combined with another exclamation point, question mark, period, semicolon, colon, or comma; thus, there is no comma in the first example below. Perhaps a door was closed on the speaker’s face, cutting off her sentence. 8. Sometimes, the comma indicates a pause that would occur if the sentence were spoken aloud. –5:00 p. (The exclamation point, like the question mark [see 8. style guides frequently recommend using em dashes for the purposes above, while using en dashes for ranges, etc. Hold down the left. The verdict was unanimous — guilty. Once again, the em-dash adds more emphasis than the traditional punctuation mark. Em-dashes in Place of a Semicolon. For example: C++ is a rich language—one requiring extensive experience to fully understand. The em dash can be used in place of commas, colons, semicolons, and parentheses to increase sentence variety and readability. There's no shortcut and the only way to do it on a keyboard is to type the em dash alt code (Alt + 0151) or the en dash alt code (Alt + 0150). The em dash is the chameleon of punctuation marks. Notwithstanding its versatility, the em dash is best limited to two appearances per sentence. Use em-dash for denoting a break or a clarification within a sentence: “Three authors—John Grisham, Danielle Steele, John Updike—have between them written eighty-nine books. A hyphen makes compound words. . S. 2. S. , em dash, en dash, or hyphen), you should put the footnote marker before it. On cell phones running Android’s Gboard or iOS operating systems, press and hold the hyphen on the onscreen keyboard. By and large, an em dash serves to insert a break in your thought without ending your thought entirely. 51). The other function is to punctuate compound modifiers that include an open compound or two or more hyphenated compounds. If a sentence ends with quoted material, the period is placed inside the closing quotation mark, even if the period is not part of the original quotation. In example 4, the 1st quote should be a complete sentence or an ellipse followed by a new paragraph describing Bob's face, followed by another paragraph with Peter's response. In British usage, we use only a single hyphen to. ; fibre everywhere else. While the em dash is used to indicate a sudden break or interruption in a sentence, the en dash is primarily used to show a range or connection between two elements. ] There’s even more explanation: If the break belongs to the surrounding sentence rather than to the quoted material, the em dashes must appear outside the quotation marks. The en dash is spaced so screen readers don’t mistake an unspaced en for a hyphen. An em dash (—) is used to mark an interruption, as mentioned above (“What the—”), or material set off parenthetically from the main point—like this. Several options will pop up, including the em dash. An em-dash can be used alone, as in this example from the online The Punctuation Guide: After months of deliberation, the jurors reached a unanimous verdict—guilty. The other everyday use for em dashes—the one I use most—is to mark a break in thought within a sentence. It may be used in place of commas, a semicolon, a colon, or parentheses. Punctuation is the tool that allows us to organize our thoughts and make it easier to review and share our ideas. (I usually just replace all curly single quotes with ' and all curly. It. Dashes and hyphens. Use a. An alternative way of displaying speech is via the em dash. Think of them as shouting, speaking, and whispering. When a character has a sudden change of thought while speaking, an em dash is the correct punctuation to show the break. QUESTION MARK U+003F: Po, other Common @ COMMERCIAL AT U+0040: Po, other Common REVERSE SOLIDUS U+005C: Po,. However, in this case also why is there an em-dash anyways? If the exclamation or question is full and complete then why is there an "abrupt break in speech. Just like in narrative, dashes can be used in dialogue to set off clauses within sentences. In short: the em-dash cannot be used in Spanish like any of those English examples, except perhaps 2(a). How to use en dashes. In fiction, the em dash almost always appears with no spaces around it. Actually, the rules are fairly set on spaces before or after an "em-dash" -- you don't use them. To properly use the em dash, spaces should not be placed around it unless the text is being italicized. But if you use them, you’ll find they can show up near a lot of punctuation marks besides dashes. FWIW, my product_codes that have a dash show as a dash (hex 2D). Em dashes can be used similarly to parentheses and commas, however, they are usually considered. Share. (it will become an em dash. When you type the hyphen, en dash, and em dash, no spaces should appear on either side of the punctuation mark. Do not combine the dash with any mark of punctuation other than quotation marks, the question mark, the exclamation mark and occasionally the period. The em dash should be used sparingly in your writing. ] There’s even more explanation: If the break belongs to the surrounding sentence rather than to the quoted material, the em dashes must appear outside the quotation marks. The em dash is also used for denoting an incomplete speech. What ‽ When your sentence calls for a question mark and an exclamation mark, the interrobang is the punctuation mark you need. . The question mark can be used to indicate editorial uncertainty, either in parentheses or in brackets. Make sure you switch on the Num Lock from the keyboard and you type the number from the Numpad and not from the top row of the keyboard. "-", the line in notepad will look like this for e. Use a dash in dialogue to show an interruption or a sudden break in thought. These sentences can be in the form of a direct question or an indirect question. It is longer than a hyphen (-) or an en dash (–). I use the alt code - alt+0148. In 3, the dash is used in place of a comma, since the change in tone is occuring at the same time as the dialog is being spoken, or near enough that it's the same action. C. The en dash (–) is one-half the width of an em. Discussion in 'Word Mechanics' started by Bone2pick, Dec 12, 2022. This. It is wider than an en dash (–) or a hyphen (-). What ‽ When your sentence calls for a question mark and an exclamation mark, the interrobang is the punctuation mark you need. Fig. Workaround. m. In your question you took U+002D (CHR(45)) which is in ASCII - for sure this does make any problem. The word is usually spelled ether in all main varieties of modern English. To type an en dash, press Option + hyphen (-) To type an em dash on keyboard, press Shift + Option + hyphen (-) The only problem is that to use. En dashes are slightly shorter than an em dash and are used to connect numbers and words: 2000–2020, Paris–London, the score was 5–3. Then, click Undo Dash. A direct question is an interrogative sentence that asks an. That may occasionally appear in old writing, where em dashes after commas and semicolons are more common. Depending on the context, the em dash can take the place of commas, parentheses, or colons—in each case to slightly different effect. If your teacher says not to use it then do not use it for work that is submitted to your teacher. Hyphens and dashes. A hyphen is no substitute for the versatile em dash, a sentence punctuation mark some may simply call "dashes. The en dash is less well known than. 92 Em dashes in lists, indexes, and tables;. Type another word. April 5–June 4. — Lo siento, no lo sabía. 👉 Em dash Mac: hold down the option + shift + the hyphen keys and viola! 👉 Em dash Word: tap the minus sign twice and continue writing. &bull First item in the list. An em dash can also mark dialogue, signify an interruption, indicate a sudden break in thought, and introduce a list. 1 Answer. 90 Em dashes and line breaks; 6. 4. When using an em dash, it is important to consider the spacing around it. Hold down. A period may precede an em dash if it is part of an abbreviation (see also 14. According to the Wikipedia article "Quotation mark" (section "Quotation dash"):. g. The closest thing I could find was this: Is it acceptable to place a dash after a question mark? An em dash—or dash for short—is a straight, horizontal line positioned about halfway between the bottom and top of a lower-case letter. ellipses —Ellipses are three periods that indicate an omission within a quoted sentence or fragment of a sentence. However, if the punctuation mark is a dash (i. Depending on the context, the em dash can take the place of commas, parentheses, or colons —in each case to slightly different effect. A dash is used to separate part of a sentence and indicate a break. — Question Mark. Example em dashes:Fun fact: The en dash is called the en rule in British English, and the em dash is called the em rule. That might be something worth fixing in case you have people with accents in their names, that are. 1. You create an em-dash by typing two hyphens, and most word processing programs will tie them automatically into the longer dash. The standard English punctuation is as follows: period, comma, apostrophe, quotation, question, exclamation, brackets, braces, parenthesis, dash, hyphen, ellipsis, colon, semicolon. The exclamation point and question mark denote strong emotion or a question, respectively. But in that case the dash is supposed to be the length of the omitted word, not just a mere em-dash. To illustrate, I’m going to reproduce the first sentence of this paragraph, but with a semicolon:Question Marks, Exclamation Points, and Em Dashes. The long dash is the widest of the three horizontal marks that may be used in the middle of a sentence. First type a period (or question mark or exclamation mark) immediately after the word before the ellipsis; then type three spaced ellipsis points. The longer EM dash is used as a break or to separate additional information in a sentence. MLA doesn't touch on more than 2 subtitles; however, there is a syntax for a work with more than one title which makes use of ; or, as the delimiter, so perhaps stay away from using semicolons. (I would even have removed to in that construction, so that the parallel starts at the verbs assume and become. Commas allow for a smoother read than dashes, which interrupt the sentence to draw the reader’s attention. Use a question mark after a direct question. This is also true for the dot part of the question mark, and exclamation mark. 1. Examples:A Quick Guide to Punctuation. In something called an appositive—a phrase that provides more information—you can use an em dash instead.