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Writing Center Handouts
Review of the Dash
Typing two hyphens with
no space between them forms a dash. Do not put a space on either side
of a dash. The dash should be used for a specific reason, should not be
overused, and is less often used in formal writing.
- Use
a dash to mean namely, in other words, or that is before an explanation:
The man—the one with his hand
in the air—looks desperate.
- Use
a dash to interrupt the idea in a sentence to insert another, related,
idea:
The student—the one dressed in
black, sitting in the corner—let out a cry.
- Use
a dash to take the place of the more formal colon, particularly when
you want to emphasize a point:
Students were asked to bring their own supplies—food, tents, sleeping
bags.
- Use
a pair of dashes in place of the more formal parentheses, although a
statement between two dashes tends to have more impact than one within
parentheses:
The participants—two from group
A and two from group B—tested negatively.
- Use
a dash at the beginning and end of a series separated by commas:
The students—Jim, Marla, and Sara—were
told they could leave.
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