I've deceived you. This post is not about words. But punctuation is a good friend of words, so I think we'll be okay.
Did you know that there is such a thing as an em-dash? And that it's different from an en-dash? Which is also different from a hyphen?? What the???
Each one has many uses, but just to show you a little glimpse...
Em-dash. An em-dash (—) is the longest dash and is used to separate parenthetical phrases or clauses in a sentence. More here.
En-dash. An en-dash (–), which is wider than a hyphen but not as long as an em-dash, has only two uses: standing in for versus (The Obama–McCain debate) and showing range (2–3 weeks). More here.
Hyphen. A hyphen (-) is used to make compound words like the pale-skinned girl. (But remember! No more hyphen for Asian Americans!) More here.
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weird... where did u learn this? and how do i make these things while i type? 1 -, then 2 --, then 3 ---?
ReplyDeleteHey Mia! I don't know if you can do them on internet browsers, but Word lets you do them! Regular dash is just the dash button. The autocorrect turns the regular dash into an en-dash if you surround it with spaces and words, like "Monday - going to the doctor." It makes an em-dash for you if you put two dashes in between two words with no spaces, like "Evelyn--his mother--was in town."
ReplyDeleteAnd I learned it on my third favorite website: grammarist.com! :) :)
Love the em-dash. I first discovered it in fifth grade, and for awhile I would stick it in my essays wherever I could.
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