And be careful to not mix different punctuation marks. Joined: May 14, 2009. I solved by this link. Just like in narrative, dashes can be used in dialogue to set off clauses within sentences. drutgat • 2 yr. How to Create Em Dashes and En Dashes: Em dash (—) Ctrl+Alt+minus (far. Imagine someone saying the line, rather than it being inner monologue. “November Cotton Flower” by Jean. I am thinking the product_code value may actually contain an -en-dash- or an -em-dash- or something other than 0x2D that is getting displayed correctly (somehow) with the combination of CubeCart, PHP, the web server and the web browser. First type a period (or question mark or exclamation mark) immediately after the word before the ellipsis; then type three spaced ellipsis points. Em Dashes Besides being my favorite piece of punctuation, an em dash (—) is used to indicate a break in thought or sentence structure, to introduce a phrase added for emphasis, definition, or explanation, or to separate two clauses. For windows, you can hold down the ‘Alt’ and ‘-‘ key and you will get an en dash. In formal writing, an em dash is the width of an m and longer than both a hyphen and an en dash. An En dash is half the width of an Em dash. The general rule is that a sentence ends with only one terminal punctuation mark. In dialogue, question marks, exclamation points, and em dashes typically fall within closing quotation marks. Em dashes can be used to. Several options will pop up, including the em dash. Consider the examples below:3. (The exclamation point, like the question mark [see 8. Don’t use end quotes between paragraphs of speech. At the word level, hyphens differentiate parts of words to help in readability. Depending on the context, the em dash can take the place of commas, parentheses, or colons —in each case to slightly different effect. 89: "In modern usage, a question mark or an exclamation point—but never a comma, a colon, or a semicolon—may. En dashes are incredibly useful punctuation marks, used to add extra emphasis to a sentence or statement. You can use such punctuation as periods, commas, semi-colons, colons, parentheses, brackets, quotation marks, dashes, exclamation points, question marks and some others. A single em dash character or a tilde may also be used. To create an em-dash on a Windows computer, hold down the [Alt] key and type 0151 on the numeric keypad. Some writers even use three or more exclamation points, lest the reader not fully grasp the significance of what is being said. The 3 types of dashes—hyphens, en dashes, and em dashes—often get mixed up. The president’s speech both began and ended with the word “freedom. The en dash is twice as long as a hyphen and is most commonly used to signify a range between two words or numbers, for example the date range: 1990-2014. Use an en dash for ranges and an em dash to separate non-essential information. you might notice em dashes and commas getting along just fine. This method can get messy if you have more than two speakers in a conversation, so use it with care. Minus Sign: −. Consider the examples below: 3. Note, however, that if the quoted material itself ends with a question mark or exclamation point, the. A dash is longer than a hyphen and is commonly used to indicate a range or a pause. En dashes are incredibly useful punctuation marks, used to add extra emphasis to a sentence or statement. The em dash is also used for denoting an incomplete speech. What Are Dashes? – or — There are two types of dashes: en dashes and em dashes. Question mark. My WPF application is reading a text file and populating a listbox. NVDA is the least likely. Looking at the other commend where u/xlrod has a fix; what you have instead is char 65533 or - not a question mark, but a placeholder Unicode "I dunno what this is" character - that suggests your export wasn't right, and has mangled some characters. Ellipses for omitted material spanning two or more sentences. However, there is a specific use native speakers give to this Spanish punctuation mark: in emails or letters, greetings are written using colons, whereas in English you usually use a comma unless you’re being very formal. It was originally a humorous and slightly sanitized version of the curse word, but it has become the standard form. Translation. 48 The En Dash, Numerals. In Google docs, use insert special character. However, they are meant to be used for different purposes: an en dash (–) is most often used to indicate ranges, while an em dash (—) is used to mark breaks within a sentence. The – is called an en dash. For example: (1) Em dashes can replace colons. The em dash is perhaps the most versatile punctuation mark. Em dash—press option+shift+hyphen key. The em dash is even longer and is used in place of a comma, parenthesis, or colon for emphasis. For the the complete list of the first 256 Windows ALT Codes, visit Windows ALT Codes for Special Characters & Symbols. To type an em dash in Microsoft Word, press the Option + Shift + hyphen keys (on Mac OS). I use the alt code - alt+0148. Francisco Santa Cruz, Strategic Communication – Advertising and Public Relations major with a minor in Mathematics; Em dash. Then, click Undo Dash. • Dashes are often used to introduce an abrupt change of thought, while parentheses add information. Em dashes can be used in the following ways: 1. ex. “A dash is a mark of separation stronger than a comma, less formal than a colon, and more relaxed than parentheses. The main reason to use an em dash is to set off an explanation or an abrupt change in thought. “I didn’t expect to — “An em dash or a pair of em dashes may indicate a sudden break in thought or sentence structure or an interruption in dialogue. These marks are available in most word processors, though many people simply use single and double quotation marks: 5’ 10”. 1月—7月 "January to July", which can also be written 1月到7月, with the character 到 in place of the dash). m. Feb. Although the en dash and em dash are the most commonly used types of dashes, there is another type of dash called the 3-em dash (the size of three em dashes). According to CMOS, “in British usage, an en dash (with space before and after) is usually preferred to the em dash as punctuation in running text. answered Jul 7, 2010 at 7:53. As an outcome those characters are generated in the excel as shown below, which contains a kind of question mark. Windows. " I know you can replace em dashes with — and n-dashes with – (which should be done on the input side of your database); I don't know what the correct replacement for the smart quotes would be. Wagon and waggon are different spellings of the same word meaning, among other things, a sturdy four-wheeled vehicle for transporting things. . Em dash: —. Depending on the context, the em dash can take the place of commas, parentheses, or colons—in each case to slightly different effect. Press the space bar. The em dash, or long dash, is the only punctuation mark on a keyboard that. An em dash (—) is a punctuation mark. 6. This will insert the em dash symbol into your Word document. By changing the console code page to something that does support the en dash character, such as 1252, this problem may be corrected. Example: apple orchard–scented candle. Quotation from wiki ( Em dash) When an actual em dash is unavailable—as in the ASCII character set—a double ("--") or triple hyphen-minus ("---") is used. Most of the time you will see a space before and after this dash. immediately recalled the books. After three weeks of deliberation, the jury finally reached a verdict: guilty. Punctuation Marks Wheel : This 2-page print-out makes a punctuation marks wheel; it consists of a base page together with a wheel that spins around. I went out with a guy based on his use of dashes once. You can use a semi-colon to separate list items when an "item" is a list in itself. If you want to make your writing easier to read and generally look more professional, you should know what. However, since interjections are not “proper” sentences, some writers prefer to attach them to a complete sentence using a comma or, if more emphasis is desired, an em dash. It is slightly shorter in length, visually resembling a hyphen, but with different usage. This type of dash is used to indicate a range, especially between numerical quantities like scores and dates. Always put commas and periods inside the quote. fiscal year 2020–21. Aether (or æther) is an obsolete spelling of the noun with various definitions relating to air, chemical compounds, and nonexistent clear elements filling outer space. En Dash Examples. Household appliances such as refrigerators and microwaves are. m. However, I can't recall an em dash being used according to your first case in modern publishing. Hyphen A handy guide full of rules and examples so you can use the hyphen with confidence. Use of it is more common in formal academic writing that must cite sources. The em dash is treated like a question mark or an exclamation mark, which are both followed by the closing. And Words into Type, third edition (1974), without referring explicitly to dashes, also agrees: Direct questions. The employee—hoping to go home early—rushed her tasks. apostrophe. Em Dash (—) Indicate an interruption or an abrupt changeAnywhere formal typography appears, an en dash might pop up. e. For further reasons, why you should use T1 encoding, have a look at this question: Why should I use usepackage[T1]{fontenc}? You should use a. . Hold down the Alt key, press 0 1 5 0 on the numeric pad, and then release the Alt key. There are two types of dash. The Space In French Punctuation. 91 Em dashes in lieu of quotation marks; 6. The shorter en dash (–) is used to mark ranges and with the meaning “to” in phrases like “Dover–Calais crossing. ) To offset additional information just like commas and. There are two common types of dashes. The em dash triggers readers’ brains to insert a slightly longer pause, which can aid in reading comprehension. Em dashes are compelling punctuation marks, rich with punctuation possibilities. 27, 2015. In most situations, a colon is better than an em dash, but if the list is being tacked on to the end of a complete sentence, or feels like an aside (see above), then an em dash might make sense. When print spacing or font types make it difficult to determine the length of the line, remember that hyphens join words and word parts together and dashes separate thoughts or ideas. Signo de interrogación (Question Mark) 7. There should be no space between the en dash and the adjacent material. The en dash is a punctuation mark that is slightly longer than a hyphen (-) but shorter than an em dash (—). To illustrate, I’m going to reproduce the first sentence of this paragraph, but with a semicolon: 'Break/Fold Mark'. Most of the time, adverbs will end in the letters -ly but there are some exceptions to this rule such as the words “very” and “never”. Other times, the comma separates grammatical components of the sentence. An alternative way of displaying speech is via the em dash. En dash. When Your Punctuation Says It All (!) 364. em-dash — Long hyphen (—) named em-dash because the dash historically is the length of a lowercase m. The en dash also signifies an abrupt change. Em dashes can replace ellipses to show an abrupt break in a conversation. The word is usually spelled ether in all main varieties of modern English. Usage: The em dash is used to indicate interruptions, emphasize elements, set off appositives, replace colons or semicolons, or create breaks in sentence flow. 89 Em dashes with other punctuation; 6. Or. 2. Look at it. In English writing, quotation marks or inverted commas, also known informally as quotes, talking marks, speech marks, quote marks, quotemarks or speechmarks, are punctuation marks placed on either side of a word or phrase in order to identify it as a quotation, direct speech or a literal title or name. Should a question mark be used after an em dash that abruptly ends a sentence? Ask Question Asked 1 year, 2 months ago Modified 2 months ago Viewed 164 times 4 I looked through a number of the site's questions to find an answer to my problem. Translation. , page 387–459); while the hyphen is used to connect words that function together (e. What you read in the Diccionario panhispánico de dudas is correct: only parenthetical remarks and dialogues are correct uses of the em-dash in Spanish. Some methods for forming these punctuation marks on a PC: En dash—hold down the Alt key and type 0150 on the numeric keypad. The most flexible and versatile punctuation mark—the Em Dash. The question mark can be followed with a dash where necessary: He left—would you believe it?—immediately after the ball. — Este libro es mío. Fiber in the U. Use to indicate duration or continuing or inclusive numbers such as dates, times or reference numbers, use an en-dash (a slightly. Exclamation point. EM dashes are wonderful if used correctly in poetry, but not in stories (especially being useless around question marks). The correct use of dialogue tags. Use an em dash to join independent clauses. Consider the difference between the sentence above and the one. "-", the line in notepad will look like this for e. That being said, em dashes should not be used in place of hyphens or colons. hphen – en dash – em dash — 2-em dash —— 3-em dash ———. Example em dashes: Upon discovering the errors—all 124 of them—the publisher. It then gives two examples, the second of them demonstrating that "the period . However I run into a bump with special characters like curly quotes en and em dashes etc. The em is the longest in the dash suite. You would simply end the line of dialogue, have a sentence of narration, and then have a new line of dialogue, even if it's the same speaker continuing. When a character has a sudden change of thought while speaking, an em dash is the correct punctuation to show the break. Use dashes and ellipses to cut sentences off. If you guessed that it’s as wide as the letter “M,” you get a gold star. The Chicago Manual of Style says that “periods and commas precede closing quotation marks. The long dash is the widest of the three horizontal marks that may be used in the middle of a sentence. An em dash is the width of the letter "m" in the font and type size being used, and should never be used in place of an en dash or hyphen. eg What would be more gratifying than being able to help a child in the use of what Vygotsky considered one of man’s greatest tools? Language! I'm sure others will come to offer advice about the em-dash version, if you prefer that. How to easily type various punctuation signs (§ ¶ ‽) using. Use a question mark after a direct question. Punctuation is the tool that allows us to organize our thoughts and make it easier to review and share our ideas. At the end of a sentence. To help indicate this “cut” between the two parts, many poems use punctuation, typically an em dash (—) or an ellipsis ( . This method can get messy if you have more than two speakers in a conversation, so use it with care. Hence, 12/5/2010 means December 5, 2010, in American usage. Adashisthe punctuation name for a mark that used to separate words into statements. A dash is used to separate part of a sentence and indicate a break. And Words into Type, third edition (1974), without referring explicitly to dashes, also agrees: Direct questions. F. It depends on one thing: trust. Like commas and parentheses, em dashes often set off descriptive or parenthetical information. “Yes, you did!”. For example, to type the em dash ( — ), hold down Alt while typing 0151 on the numeric keypad. In fact, there can be great confusion when incorporating dashes in reading and writing. Dashes should not be overused. And you wouldn't have to do any kind of terminal punctuation, no need for a period or a question mark or an exclamation point. 7 p. However, the semicolon, colon, dash, question mark, and exclamation point fall outside of the quotation marks (unless, of course, the quoted material has internal punctuation of its own). 2. Typically I replace these special characters in a microsoft product first with replace. Authors can easily remember the difference. A dash is a break in thought, from one focus to another. This is giving me writer's block and the paper is due tomorrow. The en dash will appear in the text field where your cursor is. “What are you talking about—wait, Johnny said it was Maria!”. 1. In the native Mac word processor, Text Edit, you’ll have access to the. Em dash is an impressively versatile punctuation mark that can take the place of commas, parentheses, or colons, depending on the context. (stenoscript) When used as punctuation, an en or em dash is doubled, like a long ⹀, to distinguish it from its phonetic use. A Hebrew period in a traditional serif face usually looks like a tiny tilted square (a diamond; ). The comma is the punctuation mark most likely to cause angst. The other everyday use for em dashes—the one I use most—is to mark a break in thought within a sentence. S. So, they cannot be linked by comma (Commas are only used to link a dependent and an independent clause). For example: C++ is a rich language—one requiring extensive experience to fully understand. The em dash is the chameleon of punctuation marks. Most likely it's an en dash or em dash rather than a real hyphen or minus symbol. To type the — using the keyboard you can the Alt code from the shortcode section. On a Mac. Identify the sentence that is punctuated correctly. In your question you took U+002D (CHR(45)) which is in ASCII - for sure this does make any problem. The text won't look as good, but realistically, most people won't notice. ". Perhaps the most versatile punctuation mark, the em dash can take the place of commas, parentheses, or colons. Hyphen. It is longer than a hyphen (-) or an en dash (–). En-dash The medium-length dash (–) is called an en-dash (so called because it is approximately the width of a capital letter N in the typeface being used). apostrophe. There are specific rules for punctuating that, too: StutterThe Function of the Em Dash The em dash ( — ) is usually an alternative to another punctuation mark. But OP is asking about "correct use of the em dash," not whether he should use it. When a pair of em dashes sets off material ending with an exclamation point or a question mark, the mark is placed inside the dashes. The “slightly different” part is, to me, the em dash’s appeal summarized. When interrupters fall midsentence, always use a pair of punctuation marks to surround them. There is a space before the first period and after the last period. ” Em dashes are the most versatile, nuanced, and. However, I can't recall an em dash being used according to your first case in modern publishing. Thanks very much for your reply, Jennifer. Picture the em dash the same width as the letter “M” and the en dash the same width as the letter “N. 51). The employee, hoping to go home early, rushed her tasks. It is shorter than an em-dash and longer than a hyphen. In HTML, XHTML, or XML, you can use a character escape to represent any Unicode character using only ASCII letters. Simply type a word, then space, then the. When a colon and a comma. (Other things can do that too, but we’ll get to those in a bit. To be effective, the exclamation point should be used in moderation. They also can be used to focus a reader or highlight tone within a. ” Originally, typewriters had monospaced fonts (skinny letters and fat letters. Character encoding is a link between the visual representation of a character (like a registration mark or em-dash) and the bytes that store them in memory. The report covers the period 1998–1999. Overuse of any tool will make your writing inelegant, but using the proper tool at the right time will help you generate pages that are well crafted and precisely assembled. I agree that it should try to match the size of the missing word. It can be used to separate the elements of a date: 10 septembre 1973 = 10. You did not tell us which hyphen you use, see answer from MT0. c) He thinks that an apple a day keeps the doctor away. dashes Use a true em dash inserted from the symbol menu (not one or two hyphens), and use spaces around dashes (“Jo — a Washingtonian — hates rain”). @Kenny LJ, please remember there are no absolute rules about the use of any kind of dash as opposed to others… so em-dashes matter here only in the guidelines specified by your house style-book. Fig. Please read pages 70–77 in your text. American usage puts the month first, followed by the day, and then the year. Most commonly, a dash connects an independent clause with another, with a related thought plus a conjunction like or, but, yet, as, for, and after the second dash. Resume the dialogue with another opening quotation mark, complete the dialogue, and end with a period and a closing quotation mark. As its name suggests, an em dash (—) is roughly the length of the letter M, while an en dash (–) more closely matches an N. An em dash or colon is part of the same toolkit, but they serve slightly different purposes. I agree that it should try to match the size of the missing word. . This suggests that a question mark is "stronger" than a period and is the mark that is retained. Since code page 437 does not include the en dash character, any system using that code page will have to resort to a fallback mechanism to render the file names, such as a question mark. To punctuate dialogue correctly, there are a few rules you should know: The correct use of quotation marks. Many people use these two dashes interchangeably. For your example: “Well, I thought you—” He stopped himself. Infographic: How to use an em dash. Being so versatile can create confusion if overused, therefore it is best limited to two appearances per sentence. Note that in British English, the punctuation marks only go inside of the quotation marks if the punctuation is part of the quoted material, although many writers make an exception for periods. The change in the second description of the clock's sounds emphasizes Isaac's unease. That may occasionally appear in old writing, where em dashes after commas and semicolons are more common. g. British authors often prefer to use an en-dash ( – ) with spaces on either side rather than the em. It's a completely different use case. Microsoft Word shows the em dash as soon you press enter after finishing the. When the dash is used, the change in the thought or sentence structure should be evident and distinct. The em dash (—) is a versatile punctuation mark used to enhance the readability and clarity of written text. This is really useful if you're a few words over the 650 word limit and need to trim a bit. parentheses. ] There’s even more explanation: If the break belongs to the surrounding sentence rather than to the quoted material, the em dashes must appear outside the quotation marks. e. The em dash is perhaps the most versatile punctuation mark. The word ellipsis comes from an ancient Greek word that means “to leave out. The other function is to punctuate compound modifiers that include an open compound or two or more hyphenated compounds. When you type the hyphen, en dash, and em dash, no spaces should appear on either side of the punctuation mark. BOND #2: Adverbs There are many types of adverbs, but by definition, an adverb is a word that modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. Other Types of Dash. 2. Em dashes are used to set off elements of text with internal punctuation, and en dashes to indicate a numerical range or hyphenate an open compound: The library is organized so that any question—whether technical, reference, or circulation—can be answered by staff. 2, Period, Question Mark, Exclamation Point, Question Mark, Placement], is never combined with another exclamation point, question mark, period, semicolon, colon, or comma; thus, there is no comma in the first example below. It is also called a long dash or an em dash. Few keyboards have a dash, but a word processor can usually produce one in one way or another. The closest thing I could find was this: Is it acceptable to place a dash after a question mark? An em dash—or dash for short—is a straight, horizontal line positioned about halfway between the bottom and top of a lower-case letter. An em dash derives its name from being the approximate width of a capital M. ellipses —Ellipses are three periods that indicate an omission within a quoted sentence or fragment of a sentence. Discussion in 'Word Mechanics' started by Bone2pick, Dec 12, 2022. 1. Hyphens are not separated by spaces, while a dash has a space on either side. En Dash: –. Google Docs: Type two hyphens in a row (it will become an en dash) If you’re using Microsoft Word, you can use autoformat to create an en dash. 1月—7月 "January to July", which can also be written 1月到7月, with the character 到 in place of the dash). If that is the case, you will notice a space on either side of. , em dash, en dash, or hyphen), you should put the footnote marker before it. Etc. figure dash – 8211: 2013 – en dash — 8212: 2014 — em dash ― 8213: 2015 : horizontal bar ‖ 8214: 2016 : double vertical line ‗ 8215: 2017 : double low line ‘ 8216: 2018 ‘ left single quotation mark ’ 8217: 2019 ’ right single quotation mark ‚ 8218: 201a ‚ single low-9 quotation mark ‛ 8219: 201b. On a Windows-based system, you can form an em dash on a keyboard by holding down the Alt key and typing 0151. If the interruption occurs at the. The em dash is perhaps the most versatile punctuation mark. In Unicode, the em dash is U+2014 (decimal 8212). ”. To create an em-dash on a Mac computer, hold down the shift and option/alt and type -. There is no difference in meaning between fiber and fibre. But in that case the dash is supposed to be the length of the omitted word, not just a mere em-dash. Em-dashes. Em-dashes in Place of a Semicolon. Depending on the context, the en dash is read as “to” or “through. On our way to school, we walk past the Turner Farm—the oldest dairy farm in town—and watch the cows being fed. The quotation marks indicating Isaac's thoughts emphasize his uncertainty about the future. The main difference between them is that at least some. The correct punctuation would be: Jenny said, “That’s unbelievable!”. style guides frequently recommend using em dashes for the purposes above, while using en dashes for ranges, etc. Perhaps a door was closed on the speaker’s face, cutting off her sentence. &bull First item in the list. For Windows, press Ctrl+Alt +Minus (-) or Alt+0151. , “fast-paced,” “shake-up,” “four-year-old,” “post-punk. When a quotation is presented as a single sentence made up of material from two or more original sentences, ellipses should be used for all omitted segments. For more ALT codes for various signs and symbols, see ALT Codes for Miscellaneous Symbols. And an example:There are 14 punctuation marks that are used in the English language. ManhattanMss New Member. The colon in Spanish is used for enumeration, explanation, or quotes, just like in English. The en dash is less well known than. ] There’s even more explanation: If the break belongs to the surrounding sentence rather than to the quoted material, the em dashes must appear outside the quotation marks. En Dash vs. Some consider its use informal. Collingwood as Mr. The Unicode standard introduced a separate character U+2015 ― HORIZONTAL BAR to be used as a quotation dash. Mabel tried, despite her. The Dash. When a character hits a server or email. Proofreading marks and symbols Although a significant amount of editing and proofreading is now done using tools such as Microsoft’s track changes feature and Adobe’s commenting tool, you may find yourself faced with traditional proofreading marks and symbols on a printed document someday. Le lineette (in inglese Em Dashes) "—" La lineetta è utilizzata in inglese per segnalare degli incisi enfatici, quindi spesso sostituendo virgole, parentesi e due punti italiani. 2 - En dashes are shorter than em dashes. ” Correct. Question Mark (?) In grammar, a question mark is a familiar punctuation used to end interrogative sentences. The term “em dash” comes from the field of typography—an “em” is a width equivalent to the height of a given font. When you describe a flight or itinerary, you can use an en dash. The em dash is a more emphatic substitute for the comma, colon, or parentheses and can be used to indicate omitted words. By Jessica Bennett. If your teacher says not to use it then do not use it for work that is submitted to your teacher. En dashes are shorter than em dashes, and they indicate a range or connection between numbers or words. The em dash (—) is a versatile punctuation mark used to enhance the readability and clarity of written text. Mistakes with hyphens are very common: leaving them out when they’re needed, adding them when they’re unnecessary, or putting them. 4. In French, the period is not used after abbreviations of measurement: 25 m (mètres), 12 min (minutes), etc. When typing, a hyphen looks like this: (-). When listing information, you may use the em dash between the list and independent clause when the list comes first. In traditional Japanese, questions were simply punctuated with a full stop rather than a question mark. En & Em Dashes While sometimes used in other styles to indicate a range of time, AP Style does not use en dashes. When using an em dash, it is important to consider the spacing around it. One to look out for: the colon. Many programs also automatically create an em dash when you type two single hyphens together. Hyphens and dashes. "Four!"Em Dash (—) Question Mark (?) Slash (/). The space needed after these punctuation marks is proportioned automatically. Press the space bar. An en dash is. If you prefer, you can configure your keyboard in Windows to accept Unicode codepoint numbers, instead of "traditional". Dashes and hyphens aren’t the same thing. Remember to: Use a colon to emphasize dialogue, show titles and time, or introduce a list. The em dash should be used sparingly in your writing. A dash can usually be distinguished from a hyphen in print by its greater length. ) You can achieve that. 2. However, in this case also why is there an em-dash anyways? If the exclamation or question is full and complete then why is there an "abrupt break in speech. Examples.