![]() When the word already has a hyphen, a second one is added to show it’s both hyphenated and split across two lines-and that second hyphen creates the double hyphen. Generally, non-hyphenated words are given hyphens in this situation to show the reader that the word continues on the next line. I’ve recently started dabbling in dark academia–style fashion.Īnd you’d use a double hyphen (⸗) when you use a hyphenated word at the end of a line of text and the second half of the word is split off and starts the next line. Represent conflict or connection between two nounsĬompound adjectives are two-word adjectives, and when the two words in a compound adjective aren’t hyphenated, like light gray, or when both words are hyphenated, like in record-breaking two-week period, an en dash between the adjective and the noun it’s describing makes the sentence clear.Replace the word to in ranges and scores.Unlike the versatile em dash, the en dash has just three jobs: The en dash (–) is slightly shorter than the em dash, but still longer than a single hyphen. We’ll show you examples of each of these uses in a moment. ![]() When using an em dash in this way, two or three em dashes are typically used for each missing word or portion of a word. Communicate that a word or part of a word is missing, either because it’s been purposefully omitted or is unknown.Connect a list and another clause in the same sentence when the list comes first.Offset an appositive that contains commas.Interject or abruptly change the subject.Here are all the different ways you can use one: The em dash (-) is a super versatile punctuation mark. There are three different dashes you can use in your writing : A single hyphen is a separate punctuation mark that serves a completely different purpose: to join two words to create a compound word, for example. Another way to write our example sentence is: My favorite meal is rigatoni with bolognese sauce and crusty bread because these foods remind me of my grandmother’s cooking. Think of it as shorthand for a conjunction. The semicolon communicates a deeper relationship. You’ve got two distinct sentences there, but when they’re joined by a semicolon, they paint a fuller picture than they would if kept separate. My favorite meal is rigatoni with bolognese sauce and crusty bread these foods remind me of my grandmother’s cooking. When do I use a semicolon?Īs we mentioned above, a semicolon joins two independent clauses together to create a detailed sentence. In British English, the first word after a colon is only capitalized when it’s a proper noun or acronym. In American English, the first word after a colon is capitalized when it begins a new sentence and when it’s a proper noun or acronym. Whether you should capitalize the word following a colon depends on whether you’re writing in American English or British English. Consider this variation on our example: The roads are icy. An independent clause is a clause that can be its own sentence, so when you’ve got two independent clauses separated by a colon, you’ve essentially got two sentences. We explain why in the next section.įirst, here’s an easy trick to see if you’re using a colon or semicolon correctly to separate clauses: Replace it with a period. See how the version with the semicolon feels more conversational, while the one with the colon feels more direct? You might have also noticed that in the first example, the clause after the colon starts with a capital letter. The roads are icy it’s dangerous to drive today. While a semicolon can gently separate two independent clauses, a colon does so more concretely. Separating a sentence into two independent clauses is one of the rare instances where either a colon or a semicolon would be correct. The roads are icy: It’s dangerous to drive today. Pepper.”Ī colon can also separate a sentence into two independent clauses when the two clauses are directly related and you mean to emphasize the second clause. Pepper.” This can also be written as “There are three kinds of soda on the menu and they are, as follows, ginger ale, Pepsi, and Dr. Think of it as shorthand for “which is/are,” “as follows,” or “thus.”įor example: “There are three kinds of soda on the menu: ginger ale, Pepsi, and Dr. In a sentence, a colon’s job is to introduce information and give it context. Not sure when to use a dash or whether a colon or semicolon is the way to go? No worries-we break it down and make it easy-peasy. Grammarly helps you communicate confidently Write with Grammarly
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |