Can you use em dashes for emphasis?

What is the em dash? The em dash is a horizontal line that is traditionally the width of the capital letter 'M'. Em dashes are used to indicate a pause or an emphasis. They often take the place of many other punctuation marks, such as colons, commas, or parentheses.

What punctuation do you use for emphasis?

A colon is used to give emphasis, present dialogue, introduce lists or text, and clarify composition titles.

When should em dashes be used?

Em dashes can be used in pairs to mark off additional information that is not essential to understand the sentence. Here they function similarly to parentheses or a pair of commas. An em dash is usually written without spaces on either side, although some style guides do recommend using spaces.

What are the rules for em dashes?

The em dash can function like a comma, a colon, or parenthesis. Like commas and parentheses, em dashes set off extra information, such as examples, explanatory or descriptive phrases, or supplemental facts. Like a colon, an em dash introduces a clause that explains or expands upon something that precedes it.

What can em dashes replace?

In informal writing, em dashes may replace commas, semicolons, colons, and parentheses to indicate added emphasis, an interruption, or an abrupt change of thought. Examples: You are the friend—the only friend—who offered to help me.

How to use em dashes, ellipses, and parentheses

What is the difference between an em dash and a hyphen?

A hyphen (-) is a punctuation mark that's used to join words or parts of words. It's not interchangeable with other types of dashes. A dash is longer than a hyphen and is commonly used to indicate a range or a pause. The most common types of dashes are the en dash (–) and the em dash (—).

Can you use em dashes in formal writing?

Yes, the em dash is used in formal writing.

How do you use an em dash example?

The em dash can be used in place of a colon when you want to emphasize the conclusion of your sentence. The dash is less formal than the colon. After months of deliberation, the jurors reached a unanimous verdict⁠—guilty. The white sand, the warm water, the sparkling sun⁠—this is what brought them to Fiji.

Can you use just one em dash?

We use em-dashes to add emphasis to the size of the car. It's also important that when you set off a phrase using em-dashes that you used one em-dash immediately after the noun the phrase is describing and one immediately after the phrase. Don't replace the second em-dash (as some tend to) with a comma or semicolon.

Can you start a line with an em dash?

Em dashes can end or start a line. In most text typefaces, em dashes have no side bearings, which make them appear very close to the words they separate. If this bugs you, feel free to add some kerning space around them, but don't add too much.

Why do writers use em dashes?

An em dash is a punctuation mark that can be used to replace commas, parentheses, colons, and semicolons. In general, the em dash is seen as being more interruptive or striking than other punctuation, so it is often used stylistically to draw a reader's attention to a particular bit of information.

Why would a writer want to use the em dash?

Too many afterthoughts or over-emphasizing shows a lack of clarity in your writing, making it dull to read. The reason? Em dashes add effects — asking the reader to pause as you share a thought. For maximum effect, make people pause only when you really want them to.

What is a 3 em dash?

Create a 3-em dash by entering the em dash three times or six hyphens. You can find the em dash in the symbol drop-down menu in Microsoft Word. Alternatively, press CTRL + ALT + minus key on the numeric keypad, three times. If you're using the proper font (Times New Roman 12), the three dashes will make a solid line.

How do you write emphasis?

Whether you're emphasizing a word in writing or text, the process is fairly simple. In texts, things like bold and italics are usually used as emphasis. You can pause and elongate a word to emphasize it in speech. With some attention to detail, you can really make your point clear through emphasis.

How do you emphasize text?

What is an example of emphasis?

The definition of emphasis is special attention put on something to give it importance. An example of emphasis is bolding the font of a particular word in a document to bring attention to it. An example of emphasis is a woman wearing a low cut shirt in order to bring attention to her cleavage.

Can em dashes be used in the middle of a sentence?

To Indicate an Interruption or Change in Thought

Particularly useful when writing dialogue, an em dash can be used to indicate interjections or changes in thought mid-sentence. This technique is best used in creative or informal writing. Examples: As I was saying—Katie, no, put the scissors down!

Can em dash be in the middle of a sentence?

Use em dashes in place of commas or parentheses to create a break in a sentence. Examples: Please call my lawyer—Richard Smith—on Tuesday.

Can you use em dashes in academic writing?

Although en or em dashes are acceptable in scholarly prose, they are less formal than colons and often suggest an aside or afterthought, so excessive use of this construction (in every sentence, for instance) is poor style, and as a general rule no more than one parenthetical or explanatory clause marked by dashes ...

Can you use an em dash instead of a semicolon?

For the most part, a semi colon and an em dash are interchangeable — used to separate an afterthought (much like this one). Commonly confused in its use (especially with the colon), the simplest way to describe the proper use of a semi colon is as a combination of a comma and a colon.

Is an em dash two hyphens?

On both PCs and Macs, two hyphens (typed with no space before or after either of them) will convert to an em dash—the full-length one that most of us think of when we hear the word “dash.”

What does a Hifin look like?

A hyphen is a punctuation mark that looks like a single floating, horizontal line. It is one character long. It is used to join words and word parts, so it will usually be found within a word.

Is an en dash two hyphens?

What Are Dashes? Dashes are punctuation marks used in the English language to indicate a break, range, or to combine words. There are two types of dashes: the en dash (–), and the em dash (—). Both types of dashes are frequently confused for each other and another type of punctuation: the hyphen (-).

What is a double hyphen used for?

Double dashes are used instead of commas (or parentheses) to interrupt a sentence. The phrase separated by dashes must be grammatically inessential, by which I simply mean that the sentence will still work without that phrase.

What is the double dash called?

Em dash. Em dashes — so called because they are (at least historically) the width of the character m — are used for emphasis or interruption.