The Dash

The dash is a punctuation mark that appears like this: —

Yeap, it is a horizontal line that is used for punctuation purposes. It consists of two types:

1. The en dash
2. The em dash

 

The En Dash

The en dash is a short dash. It resembles a hyphen, but it is a little bit longer. Below, the use of the en dash is demonstrated.

 

In Compound Expressions

 

A hyphen is usually used to link words in compound expressions. However, a hyphen works best when the elements in the compound expression are single. But if one of the elements if made of more than one word, you should use an en dash.

For example:

 

The Zambia–Tanzania Railway Authority has prevented trains from entering Tanzania.

 

Also, if a prefix preceeds a compound expression, it is better to use an en dash.

 

The post–Slave Trade era has seen a fundamental rise in human rights and freedoms.

 

To Indicate Time Periods or Ranges of Numbers

 

Some times, to indicate ranges of numbers, we use an en dash.

For example:

 

The years 1939–45 were the years of the second world war.

I will be at the library Monday–Friday.

Please note that this use should be limited to Informal writing. In formal writing, retain the word to or from. So you should write the above sentences like this:

 

The years from 1939 to 1945 were the years of the second world war.

I will be at the library from Monday to Friday.

The Em Dash

The em dash is a longer than the en dash (about twice as long) and is written without spaces on either side. The use of em dash is demonstrated below:

There was a sad look on his face—the saddest and gloomiest that his overworked facial muscles could manage to construct.

This punctuation mark, the dash, is used in the following circumstances:

1. To set off text that adds extra information
2. To introduce an explanation or illustration of what has already been said
3. To indicate an omission
4. To indicate a distinct pause

Now let us consider each of these circumstances in turn.

To Set off Text

Sometimes when you are writing, you may need to clarify what you are talking about by adding asides. These asides are not necessary for the sentence to make sense and therefore can be omiited without affecting the logical structure of the sentence.

For example, let us say you are talking about the African elephant. This is what you have written:

The African Elephant is the biggest land mammal in the world.

Now suppose you want to add some information which you think your readers might find interesting, namely that this very animal has been hunted to extinction in some places, how would you do that?

Instead of writing a whole new sentence, you might simply write:

The African Elephant—Which has been hunted to extinction in some places—is the biggest land mammal in the world

The comma or parenthesis can be used in the same manner to set off asides. It is preferrable, in fact, to use commas or parenthesis in formal or business writing. The advantage of dashes, however, is that they tend to indicated a more distinct seperation.

To Introduce an Explanation or Illustration

If you need to introduce an explanation, or illustration of something you have stated, or if you simply want to expand on a statement, you may precede that explanation with either an em dash or an en dash. By so doing, you are using the dash in the same way the colon is used—to introduce an explanatory text, an example, or illustration. Here are a few examples to elucidate what I mean:

We need to educate the young men and women of today—our future leaders.

It is environmentally friendly to recycle waste—paper, plastic, cans, glass and other recylcable things.

Too many things have gone wrong in the world—natural disasters, global warning, the recession of the world economy, wars, to mention just a few.

Why are you staring at me like that—you are scaring me!

To Indicate an Ommission

The em dash is used to indicate omissions of words or letters.

For example, if you are referring to someone whose name you do not want to mention in full, you may simply say:

Mrs. M— is going out with Mr.T—, and neither Mr. M— nor Mrs. T— knows.

Sometimes a whole word is omitted in writing. Such omissions are represented by dashes. The dash is a tell-tell sign that something is missing.

"I really, really—you," he said.

To Indicate a Distinct Pause

In speech, people often pause either due to hesistation or to think. When you are writing dialogue, You can indicate a major pause using the dash; to be more specific, the em dash:

He grasped her hand and said: "I—missed you, Jane."

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