Q&A for How to Use a Dash in an English Sentence

In Microsoft word, hit "-" twice (which is next to zero on your keyboard), then press enter to create an em dash.

Most style guides say not to use a space before or after an em dash. However, in journalism, it is common to insert that space before and after the em dash.

You can use em and en dashes as punctuation, to indicate a range of values, or to create emphasis.

No. It would be better if you started with an ellipses. E.g. '... but you said I could!'.

It's passable if informal but it would be better to use a colon. So, you would write it as: "All of my school work: Science, math and English".

A dash shows an abrupt change or an interruption in the flow of a thought.

You usually can't start a new dialogue with a dash, unless it's in an informal scenario. If you do, capitalization is likely optional, given the informal nature of the writing.

Keyboards do not normally have dashes, you have to create them by using a shortcut. In word processing programs like Microsoft Word, two hyphens in a row between two words ("word--word") will automatically be turned into a dash once you press space after the second word. You can also see How to Type a Dash for other ways to create dashes. If you're writing in plain text, where you can't create characters beyond the normal keyboard characters, the standard is to represent a dash by using a hyphen with a space on each side: " - ".

Never. If someone's last name consists of two surnames, you could place a hyphen (not a dash) between them, as in "Mary Smith-Jones."

A dash is longer than a hyphen. The dash is used to indicate an abrupt pause or interruption in a thought or statement. A hyphen is used to conjoin two words.

Commas would be better.

No. A dash would be more appropriate.

In the US, the full quote is enclosed within double quotation marks, and the shorter ("nested") quote is enclosed within single quotation marks. In certain other English-speaking countries, such as the UK, that order is reversed.

Not always. A comma (with a coordinating conjunction of course) can separate two independent clauses (The cat walked, and he ate.), set off an appositive (Sheryl, my teacher, read aloud to the class), set off an introductory phrase (In the morning, I went for a walk), or separate coordinate adjectives (The happy, overweight cat sauntered over to the food bowl.). If your sentence contains any of the following, then you can use a comma in those places instead of a dash.

Neither is necessary.

How about "NAILHED"?

A dash indicates an abrupt halt or a change in direction of thought or speech. To indicate a "trailing off," use an ellipsis (three or four dots).

Yes, or you could use a colon.

You could insert dashes after "movie" and "seen."

"30-foot-wide" is a common usage, or you could use "30-feet-wide."

No. Dashes impart a longer pause than is warranted here. Use commas instead: "Mr. John, the head of retail banking, has..."

No, you would use a hyphen.

Dashes are usually used to show a break in thought. You have written a sentence with logical flow, and it would be better as simply, "I am under the impression that she has had no instruction at all and doesn't need any."

A semi-colon would be fine, as would a dash or a period.

The correct punctuation would be: "I don't see what the big issue is," Ashley crossed her arms and scrunched her eyebrows, "I mean, come on Evan."

It's actually "Appeals's."

No.