You're writing an email, essay, or even—hey why not?—a book, and as you write, you think, “I need one of those long dash, double hyphen things. What are those things called, again? And how do I make sure I use it correctly so I don't look like an idiot?” Let's look at what an em dash is and how to use one correctly.
If that's you, don't fret! You have this whole guide to learn more about what an em dash is, when to use it, how it's different than other kinds of dashes and hyphens, and how it can add style (if it's not overused) to your writing.
But maybe you're thinking, “I'm actually just here to copy paste an em dash. I don't want to learn anything, thank you.”
No problem!
Copy and Paste an Em Dash Here
Copy and paste this:
—
There you go. That wasn't so hard, right?
And if you want to learn how to create them for yourself—or go above and beyond and learn to use them correctly—then read on!
Em Dash Keyboard Shortcuts: How Do You Make an Em Dash?
Warning: To correctly make an em dash on Word and other word processors, DO NOT use two consecutive hyphens or a double dash.
Two adjacent hyphens (that's two of these, no spaces between them: – -) combine to form an en dash, like this one: –. An en dash looks similar to an em dash, but they're used in totally different situations (more on that below).
Plus, on other web editors, like WordPress, Twitter, and Facebook for example, those two hyphens don't magically become dashes of any variety. They stay two hyphens forever with that pesky little white space between them. Don't do it!
This bears repeating: when you put two hyphens together, you do not create an em dash.
So how do you create an em dash? You have three options:
1. Copy and Paste
Want that copy-and-paste em dash again? Here you go:
—
But you likely don't want to search “em dash copy and paste” every time you need an em dash. So here's how to create one yourself:
2. Best Option: Use the Em Dash Keyboard Shortcut
There is a simple shortcut that includes the dash key on your keyboard that will quickly and easily create an em dash.
Em Dash Shortcuts for PC and Mac
PC: alt/option + shift + hyphen (-)
MAC: option + shift + hyphen (-)
3. Second Best Option: Use the Symbols Section on Word or WordPress
If you're in a program that includes a formatting toolbar, like Microsoft Word, you can use the symbols or special characters section of your word processor and search for the em dash there.
But why hunt and peck when you can use a quick and easy keyboard shortcut? Master the keyboard shortcut, and you can make your very own em dash anytime you need one.
But beware, because with great power comes great responsibility. Now that you can make an em dash, how do you know if you're using it correctly?
Em Dash Definition: What Is an Em Dash?
An em dash is a versatile punctuation mark that looks like an extended dash. It is used to break up a longer sentence, usually to insert a phrase into the middle or end of a sentence, to add modification phrases to a list, and sometimes to show a break in narration or conversation.
Em dashes are also known as an m dash, m-rule, long dash, or, in grammatical slang circles, “mutton.” The New York Times even called it “the bad boy or cool girl” of punctuation and a freewheeling scofflaw. So there you go!
Em Dash Examples
You've probably seen a lot of em dashes, maybe without ever noticing. Here's what they look like in a sentence:
Andy scanned the budgets on his desk, noting that Margot’s handwriting—and most of her work, in fact—was less than satisfactory.
Or, in dialogue:
“Carl, I honestly don't know why you—”
“Stop, Lauren! I will put hot sauce on my pasta instead of marinara if I want to.”
Now that you know what to look for, you might start seeing them everywhere. But when do you use an em dash? What's the benefit of it, and why do writers sometimes misuse this wonderful piece of punctuation?
When Should You Use Em Dashes? 6 Places to Use an Em Dash
Em dashes are versatile. They have uses both in formal and informal writing. They can take the place of commas, parentheses, colons, ellipses, semicolons, and even—for some writers—quotation marks.
Here are the situations you might use an em dash:
1. To insert a phrase into the middle of a sentence as a stronger comma.
Em dashes might be used instead of a comma if there are a lot of commas already used in a sentence or paragraph and you want to switch it up, or for a stylistic choice.
Here's an example from The Write Structure:
If you’ve ever told a good story—one that has your friends or family on the floor laughing, or else on the edge of their seat asking, “What happened next?!”—then you know that you can’t get to the point of the story too quickly.
Notice how the em dashes separate a phrase with a lot of other punctuation. A comma alone wouldn't work, because it wouldn't be strong enough against the other pieces of punctuation.
Em dash to the rescue!
2. To add an aside in place of or in addition to parentheses.
In more formal writing, you can use em dashes in place of parentheses when you're making an aside comment or parenthetical statement.
Here's an example, again from The Write Structure:
While you may choose more than one value—perhaps a value for a subplot or the internal genre—if you try to move your story on too many values it will become muddied and will be very hard to work with in your second draft.
Maybe you're even already using a parenthetical statement, and you need to add another aside to your aside (like this—see?). Make your parenthetical statements work harder with an em dash!
3. To modify a list or a single item in a list.
When you have a list broken up by commas, and you want to add detail about one item in that list or even the list itself, a comma alone isn't strong enough. In some situations, you could instead use semicolons in place of your list-separating commas, but em dashes are a good alternative as well.
Here's how it looks, using an example from The Write Structure:
That means the average novel, film, or screenplay—which have fifty to seventy scenes—should have fifty to seventy rising actions and fifty to seventy climactic choices.
See how the em dash, in this case, adds more information about the whole list? Em dashes can be useful any time you're trying to insert more information into a list.
4. To begin a list instead of a colon.
Writers might use a colon at the end of a sentence to transition to a list. An em dash can do this too if the colon is used to separate extra information at the end of a sentence.
I've been waiting ten years to go on my favorite vacation: a trip to New Zealand!
With an em dash instead of a colon, the sentence becomes:
I've been waiting ten years to go on my favorite vacation—a trip to New Zealand!
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.
5. To show a break in narration or conversation in place of an ellipsis.
Em dashes can replace ellipses to show an abrupt break in a conversation. Where an ellipsis might instead feel more like a trailing off, an em dash can feel like a sudden break.
As with our previous example:
“Carl, I honestly don't know why you—”
“Stop, Lauren! I will put hot sauce on my pasta instead of marinara if I want to.”
You might instead use an ellipsis here, but the em dash is a stylistic choice that makes it feel more abrupt.
6. In a quotation before the author's name.
When you're formatting a quote, perhaps for the epigraph of a book, an em dash comes before the author's name, like this:
Em dashes are the best punctuation mark!
—Joe Bunting
7. Not recommended: In place of a quotation mark.
Some writers, like James Joyce, used em dashes in place of quotation marks, what is sometimes called a “quotation dash.”
Here's a section from Joyce's novel Ulysses:
The fellows talked together in little groups. One fellow said:
—They were caught near the Hill of Lyons.
—Who caught them?
—Mr Gleeson and the minister. They were on a car. The same fellow added:
—A fellow in the higher line told me.
Very few writers do this, today, and all major style guides use regular quotation marks instead of em dashes for dialogue.
You're now armed with six ways to use em dashes (and a seventh, if you're feeling bold). But when should you avoid using an em dash?
When to Avoid Em Dashes
Em dashes are wonderful little pieces of punctuation, but like any special treat, you can have too much of a good thing.
Too many em dashes can break up the flow of your writing, causing it to read like a third-year philosophy doctorate student's term paper (unless you're doing academic writing, this is not something you want—trust me).
As my editor has often told me, more than two em dashes per page is a cry for help.
Should You Use a Space Before and After an Em Dash?
You might see some em dashes formatted—like this—with no spaces.
And then, in a book or the newspaper, you might see them differently — like this — with one space around each em dash.
Which is correct?
The answer is: it depends. And if that's confusing, welcome to the world of competing style guides.
Here's the thing: there are different “correct” ways to format punctuation depending on whom you're writing for. Most style guides, like the Chicago Manual of Style and APA style, say you should not use spaces between em dashes.
However, there's one major style guide that says em dashes should have spaces, and that's AP style. Since AP style is also the style guide that most newspapers use, you may see a lot of em dashes with spaces.
The question is, which method should YOU use?
Answer: Unless you're writing for a newspaper, no spaces before and after your em dashes is the best bet.
Now you're handy with the em dash, ready to place it in all the appropriate places, surrounded by no inappropriate spaces. But beware—if you're looking for the em dash, your keyboard has a few false friends to distract you. Let's look at how not to confuse your em dashes with en dashes, hyphens, or minus signs.
The Full Dash Guide: Em Dash vs. En Dash vs. Hyphen vs. Minus Sign
There are actually three different types of dashes, and it's very easy to mix them up.
Not sure the difference between the three? Here's a cheat sheet for the different types of dashes:
As you can see, the em dash is the longest of the three, and roughly the width of the letter m, which is how it got its name.
(And yes, the en dash is named because it's the width of the letter n.)
The em dash also acts as the longest stop or pause in a sentence compared to the other three dashes, which all serve to join parts of sentences rather than break up a sentence and stop the reader.
Let's talk about the differences.
Hyphen
A hyphen connects two elements that are joined together to function as one word.
Here are some examples of hyphenated words: best-seller, two-year-old, pre-Hanukkah, and anti-racist.
An em dash cannot be used as a hyphen (and a hyphen, likewise, cannot be used as a hyphen).
The rules for hyphenating words are extensive, but here's a quick reference list to get you started:
- Compound adjective + noun (a best-selling book)
- Terms for age if they're in front of the noun (a nine-year-old child, but not a child who is nine years old)
- Some numbers (twenty-one through ninety-nine)
- Some prefixes (though not all)
- Confusing combinations of words where a hyphen will help with clarity
Not sure when to use a hyphen? Check out the Chicago Manual of Style Hyphenation Table for a quick-reference guide to all your hyphenation needs. And if you're still not sure, look up a word in a dictionary like Merriam-Webster to see whether they hyphenate the term.
Double Hyphen
A double hyphen is a punctuation mark that uses two parallel hyphens, like this: ⸗. It looks more like an angled equal sign (and is even called an angled dash by some).
This is most often used with typefaces, or used for commercial purposes that give the punctuation mark some visual effect, like this:
Malbaum⸗Franktur
Let's be honest, though: you probably won't see much of this type of hyphen. It's had some historical use and some uses in other languages, but if you're writing in English, you're almost certainly better served with another hyphen or dash option.
En Dash
The en dash is used to indicate a range. You can use it in many places where you might otherwise say “to” or “through.”
For instance, this range of dates:
I am going on vacation from July 4 through July 8.
. . . becomes a shortened, punctuated range:
I am going on vacation from July 4–8.
Em dashes don't indicate ranges of numbers or words, and they don't act as a substitute for “through.”
Minus Sign
A minus sign and a hyphen are the same length: a short, single line (-). From a typing standpoint, they're interchangeable. You'll use the same key to make a hyphen or a minus sign, whether you're connecting two words or writing a mathematical equation.
The em dash is longer, and it doesn't have a mathematical usage. For instance, don't write this:
A–B=C
Instead, use that minus sign:
A-B=C
Bonus! More Punctuation Resources
Do you feel confident about when to use an em dashes now but still have budding grammar questions? Some of these additional resources on The Write Practice blog might be exactly what you've been looking for:
Create Your Own Words (and Other Uses Of the Hyphen)
What's an En Dash? (And How to Use it Correctly)
How to Use an Ellipsis … Correctly
Need more grammar help? My favorite tool that helps find grammar problems and even generates reports to help improve my writing is ProWritingAid. Works with Word, Scrivener, Google Docs, and web browsers. Also, be sure to use my coupon code to get 20 percent off:
PRACTICE
Write for fifteen minutes on the following writing prompt, using em dashes to provide insight into the mind of the characters, or to show interruptions in dialogue.
Prompt: Ashley stared at Max, who was sitting in the middle of the disheveled living room.
When your time is up, post your practice in the Pro Practice Workshop. Then, be sure to give feedback to your fellow writers by commenting on whether they used the em dash correctly.
I was actually told recently by someone to use an m-dash during dialogue when someone interrupts someone else (i usually use …)
However, i have just finished reading Started for Ten but David Nicholls and he uses … for someone getting interrupted.
My poor head hurts with the contradictions the world always throw up 🙁
Matt (Turndog Millionaire)
I hear you, Matt.
Check out this post about Ellipses:
https://thewritepractice.com/how-to-use-an-ellipsis-correctly/
I think an em-dash has more urgency. Ellipsis seems more like the speaker trailed off before the next person spoke.
Very true. Great point, Rachel.
I was actually told recently by someone to use an m-dash during dialogue when someone interrupts someone else (i usually use …)
However, i have just finished reading Started for Ten but David Nicholls and he uses … for someone getting interrupted.
My poor head hurts with the contradictions the world always throw up 🙁
Matt (Turndog Millionaire)
I hear you, Matt.
Check out this post about Ellipses:
https://thewritepractice.com/how-to-use-an-ellipsis-correctly/
I think an em-dash has more urgency. Ellipsis seems more like the speaker trailed off before the next person spoke.
Very true. Great point, Rachel.
I am quite the fan of em-dashes, though I can’t say that I knew what they were called before today! I hope the next post Liz does is about the en-dash! What’s the difference between them? Not that I haven’t just Googled it and found out… The juxtaposition is just an idea 🙂
exactly me, except that I didn’t look up the difference 😛
Well now you can, Dawn:
https://thewritepractice.com/whats-an-en-dash-and-how-to-use-it-correctly/
I am quite the fan of em-dashes, though I can’t say that I knew what they were called before today! I hope the next post Liz does is about the en-dash! What’s the difference between them? Not that I haven’t just Googled it and found out… The juxtaposition is just an idea 🙂
exactly me, except that I didn’t look up the difference 😛
Well now you can, Dawn:
https://thewritepractice.com/whats-an-en-dash-and-how-to-use-it-correctly/
Love this blog usually, but that was a waste of time because you never actually told us anything about em dashes and the like.
What else would you like to know Matt? I thought Liz covered it pretty clearly.
Love this blog usually, but that was a waste of time because you never actually told us anything about em dashes and the like.
What else would you like to know Matt? I thought Liz covered it pretty clearly.
“Max–what did you do?”
Max stared up at Ashley with big brown eyes.
Ashley picked her way through the room–books, papers, and other random stuff that she did not want to think about were strewn across the room. She made her way to Max. “How could you do this to me?”
Max looked at her in the way that dogs did when they knew they were guilty. He got up and was about to turn to go into his crate.
“Uh, uh, uh–you aren’t getting away so easily!”
“Ashley, what happened?”
The blonde girl whipped around, startled by the new voice. “Oh–Dan,” she stammered, her face flushing. “So how was your day?”
“What–” Dan’s face was flushed. “What happened to my house?”
“Um…” Ashley began in a whisper, “I can explain–”
“I’ve seen enough,” Dan said coldly.
“I didn’t even get to finish!” Ashley exclaimed.
“I can SEE you standing there!” Dan snapped.
“Wait, wait, so you assume–”
“Don’t tell me what I assume, I know what I assume–”
“Just because I was standing here, doesn’t mean I did it–”
“Okay, what in the world is going on here?”
Ashley gulped at the sound of her father’s eerily calm voice over their exploding argument.
“Hi, Dad,” she said.
“What’s going on here?” he asked again.
“Ask your daughter!” Dan scowled at her.
“It wasn’t me,” Ashley said stiffly.
“Yeah, it was,” Dan snapped.
“That’s it, you are both grounded.”
“You can’t ground me!” Dan cried out.
“Watch me.”
This should be interesting, Ashley sighed in resignation.
***
Wow that had an extreme overuse of em-dashes, or en-dashes or whatever. 🙂 Wasn’t very good… I just felt like writing something, instead of doing “real” work that’s has a due date 😛 I should have used this for my dissent entry, shouldn’t i have?:P LOLz.
“Max–what did you do?”
Max stared up at Ashley with big brown eyes.
Ashley picked her way through the room–books, papers, and other random stuff that she did not want to think about were strewn across the room. She made her way to Max. “How could you do this to me?”
Max looked at her in the way that dogs did when they knew they were guilty. He got up and was about to turn to go into his crate.
“Uh, uh, uh–you aren’t getting away so easily!”
“Ashley, what happened?”
The blonde girl whipped around, startled by the new voice. “Oh–Dan,” she stammered, her face flushing. “So how was your day?”
“What–” Dan’s face was flushed. “What happened to my house?”
“Um…” Ashley began in a whisper, “I can explain–”
“I’ve seen enough,” Dan said coldly.
“I didn’t even get to finish!” Ashley exclaimed.
“I can SEE you standing there!” Dan snapped.
“Wait, wait, so you assume–”
“Don’t tell me what I assume, I know what I assume–”
“Just because I was standing here, doesn’t mean I did it–”
“Okay, what in the world is going on here?”
Ashley gulped at the sound of her father’s eerily calm voice over their exploding argument.
“Hi, Dad,” she said.
“What’s going on here?” he asked again.
“Ask your daughter!” Dan scowled at her.
“It wasn’t me,” Ashley said stiffly.
“Yeah, it was,” Dan snapped.
“That’s it, you are both grounded.”
“You can’t ground me!” Dan cried out.
“Watch me.”
This should be interesting, Ashley sighed in resignation.
***
Wow that had an extreme overuse of em-dashes, or en-dashes or whatever. 🙂 Wasn’t very good… I just felt like writing something, instead of doing “real” work that’s has a due date 😛 I should have used this for my dissent entry, shouldn’t i have?:P LOLz.
“Stop it Max, you’re freaking me out!” — he was doing it again, this
time in the middle of the living room, just staring. Could he even hear her?
Piled around him were magazines and old newspaper clippings of God knows what.
No seriously, God is literally the only person that Max had talked to or about
or done anything with lately. He won’t even look at me.
Walking toward him out of the kitchen — a kitchen blue and white with
stucco walls and a drop ceiling, Ashley felt smaller than the font in all the
books surrounding her husband. More broken. Less cared for. Less… touched — oh
don’t get me started on physical contact. I would settle for him to meet my
eyes once in the last 6 months! But no, ever since the accident…
Before, we were in love. He would come surprise me at work an—do you
know what he used to do? He would know that I was busy at work, that I had
patients and was running extremely low on patience, and then he would show up.
I always used to imagine having a strong and brave husband who would swoop me
up on his noble steed and carry me away into the sunset — imagination… dreams…
Real life is better. Max used to drive his noble Ferrari to McDonalds and would
pick me up a sprite and a 99¢ fry, then he would come to the office and they
would page me as if I was desperately needed at the front. I would come,
frustrated because I had to leave my patients in the back just for who knows
what out front — and then I would see him there. Standing tall and smiling big
— or you know, sometimes he would have the surprise behind his back, or he
would hide and I would have to find him. Max helps me remember what it’s like
to be a kid again — It’s the small things that matter.
The doctors said he was lucky to have survived the impact. They had
never seen a patient with such extensive damage able to function again. I think
they judged him on the small things. From what I see, he can’t even do those
anymore.
Tell me, am I ridiculous to miss my husband while I’m in the same room
as him? I wish every day the lightpole had been better secured. Or that Max
hadn’t been on his lunch break when it mysteriously fell with a crash on top of
him. It didn’t break him, but his spirit isn’t the same.
I ENJOY Em-dashes, although, like Kat, I didn’t know that the dashes sprinkled across my posts were called “Muttons” 😛
Thank youuuu
Kitto
Haha well there you go.
I don’t know where I have been. Actually, I don’t believe that I ever heard of these dashes.
or if I did, they might have been called something else. I’m still surprised at this. The only dash that I know of is the one that I use in my e-mail. When I use dialogue in my writing and even in College, I use the ” in the beginning of the conversation and end “. I have learned something today. I do believe that we learn something almost every, every, day.
Awesome. Glad it was helpful, Kenneth!
Excellent… used sparingly, m-dashes are effective for clarifying. The term “mutton” definitely presents a new perspective on their use too.
Isn’t that funny? I love that term.
The ellipsis is—except to show omitted material in a quote—used almost exclusively in dialog and most often implies an action on the part of the speaker. A deliberate pause… Or a deliberate opening for an answer or response—perhaps. The em-dash would therefore suit for a speaker being interrupted—by an action of someone (or something) else. Thus, there’s no conflict in dialog use between the two. The main conflict comes in conversational writing like this… I am, in effect, the “speaker” here & can pause either way…ellipsis being most common online these days.
In narrative—especially non-fiction—the ellipsis should probably be used only to note omission. This brings me (at long last) to the relationship between the em-dash and parenthesis. The best advice seems to be that in narrative, the em-dash often serves the same purpose as the parenthesis—except stronger. (Weaker material is easily captured and shut in parenthesis.) And here you see the other big advantage—there is no requirement to “close” the em-dash.
To avoid coming off as a snoot, I’ll just add that these are more issues of etiquette than of rule. For instance, em-dashes are—usually—used in pairs or singly in a single sentence—beyond three, it becomes a chore to decode what’s being set off. And—as with all good writing—consistency reigns supreme. (Though using nothing but ellipsis does come off looking rather amateur…and substituting ellipsis for parenthesis is just wrong.)
One potential pay-off is, if a character is thinking (rather than speaking) & you use the ellipsis, it can help separate thought from narrative without the need for any special device—such as italics—or attributions, he thought. Final thought. Some style-book-using publications (especially news & magazines) specify the “spaced” em-dash — unlike the ones I’ve used above — which are “un-spaced.” Likewise, I’ve encountered editors—snooty types, all—who find un-spaced em-dashes totally unacceptable — in submission manuscripts. Books, on the other hand, seldom use spaced ones. Nor do I.
This is a fantastically thorough analysis. Most of this I knew, but you helped me sort through some of the finer aspects of the em dash. Thank you for sharing this, @manilamac:disqus.
Thanks Joe! The Write Practice is a fantastic resource. Though I seldom have time to contribute (racing a deadline as I write this) I check the site daily. Keep up the fine work!
Expanding a bit on manilamac’s analysis. I write fiction, not non-fiction; bear that in mind.
The em-dash is a type of parenthetical. That category holds parentheses (duh) as well as basically anything else that allows for, well, a parenthetical thought. An aside, if you will. Commas are parenthetical in some cases, and they’re likely the subtlest punctuation for a parenthetical statement. Use commas when you can; if you can’t use a comma for a parenthetical, the thought could be out of place in the first place. This is doubly true of non-fiction, where you’re trying to convey information, rather than mood and emotion and whatnot.
I’ve argued that certain (ab)uses of footnotes and endnotes qualify as parenthetical, and if so, they’re certainly the most abrupt and jarring form of parenthetical (sidenotes are substantially less abrasive to the reader, but then you have to keep this big white space by the text, which kills the rainforest and so forth—less of an issue with electronic documents, i.e. PDFs; give it a try sometime).
The em dash is stronger, but somehow less formal, than the parentheses. An em dash is like a big abrupt break in the narrative, whereas a set of parentheses is like somebody making a little comment sotto voce.
I find it very unnatural to use parentheses in dialogue; the em dash feels much more conversational.
The big disadvantage to the em dash is its uniformity. An em dash is an em dash is an em dash is occasionally two dashes when your word processor drops the ball. They all look the same, and that makes it easy to get lost. Parentheses are more polite, since they face a certain direction, which tells you for sure what’s in the bubble and out of the bubble. For this reason, I strongly advice against using more than two em dashes in one sentence, no matter its length. The exception is an em dash within a set of parentheses, as I used in paragraph three. You shouldn’t use a parenthetical within a parenthetical unless you’re dead set on giving the reader whiplash, but the em dash is a good way to punctuate your statement.
Everyone here has seen someone, somewhere, sometime, overuse the ellipsis … like … this … punctuating … every … discrete … thought … like … some … sort … of … chronic … depressive. It reads like getting stuck behind some jackass doing 30 on the interstate. You should be allowed to shoot them. An ellipsis is like a speed bump. Be very careful of it.
Ellipses and em dashes are both acceptable for indicating interrupted chains of thought, but the effect is very different. Compare:
“But I thought you loved—”
“Idiot,” she said.
to
“But I thought you loved …”
“Idiot,” she said.
One is an abrupt disruption, the other is a sort of morendo descent. It’s perfectly acceptable to break consistency of punctuation here to indicate different breaks in speech or thought, so long as you are consistent in your inconsistency.
Ellipses, parentheses, and em dashes are all easy to abuse. Overuse of parentheticals is a sure sign of poorly organized thought, which symptomizes schizophrenia. You don’t want your readers to think of you as being schizophrenic. Nothing against schizophrenics, mind; I know a few and they’re great, but it’s not usually the sort of image you want (unless maybe you’re writing from the perspective of a character who’s a little unhinged in the first place, in which case, hey, go nuts).
The ellipsis is not just three periods; it’s typeset with a special character, and is separated from each word by a space. Most word processors replace the three dots with an ellipsis, but do not separate it from the word as it should be. To wit:
Lorem…ipsum is wrong.
Lorem… ipsum is wrong.
Lorem …ipsum is incorrigible and makes you look totally ridiculous.
Lorem … ipsum is right.
Feel free to disregard the preceding advice if, for instance, your editor is computer-illiterate, you don’t know how to make it work with HTML, etc. If you know how, try to prevent the ellipsis from stretching across a line. It accentuates the disruptive effect. That may not be a simple matter; I do all of this stuff in LaTeX, so I really don’t know very much at all about word processors.
On a Mac, you can get an ellipsis character with option-semicolon. Not sure about Windows or Linux. All the ellipses in this post are proper ellipsis characters, not triple periods. Copy and paste if need be.
Do not use the em dash between ranges, e.g. dates, prices, etc. Use the en dash for those (or follow your style manual’s dictate; I think the AMA uses plain hyphens, which look cramped and silly, but whatever).
Spaced em dashes are ridiculous. The shell-shocking lacuna induces the sort of pause that ought to be reserved for recovery from a serious motor vehicle accident, not a casual act of literary leisure. Perhaps acceptable in hoity-toity academic publications, etc.; personally, I find a punch to the face less disruptive. Even worse than spaced em dashes are em dashes spaced only on one side. For the love of creation, never do that. There is a temptation—at least in my experience—to include a comma or semicolon at the end of a parenthetical em dash, but every modern style and usage guide I’ve encountered has condemned the practice.
As with most things, you can learn all of this and more by observing how other authors use it, and ignoring absolutely all online usage (even serious, respectable, literary-type authors get really dumb about their punctuation online sometimes).
I use em-dashes all the time. Even in my personal journals. I don’t remember when I began using them in those journals—or anywhere else, for that matter—but they’re second nature now.
The primer course is helpful, though. I didn’t realize there was a usage difference between en-dashes and em-dashes. That’s good to know!
Me too, Carrie. I think I started using them in high school to look smarter (it didn’t work very well then). I especially like them as an alternative to a parenthetical.
LOL on the high school thing. I know I started using em-dashes since high school (that was soooo many years ago!).
I know what you mean. I sure feel smarter already, just from reading that article.
I have heard about the M-dash and now I know I can use it without putting two dashes together. I’m glad a little education might make a difference in my dialogue. “But Katie, why are you so hopeless today–like I could ever figure you out.” Unfortunately using the shift-alt-dash produced nothing and had to just the double dash. I try later to check out this method. Good article and I’ll be sure to heed your great use of m-dash. Thanks.
Are you on a PC, Kathy? Try CTRL + ALT + dash/minus key
Or, instead of using an em-dash to break up sentences, the other option is to use an en-dash with spaces (but never, hopefully, an em-dash plus spaces or the poor reader will never get to the other side of the yawning chasm thus created).
As an entirely unscientific experiment, I just pulled the first eight books that came to hand from my to-read shelf. Different authors, publishers and genres, but all fairly recent. Seven of them used en-dash plus spaces, and only one used em-dashes midsentence.
It seems that in modern typography the em-dash is being reserved for the cutting-off of dialogue at the end of a sentence…
You’ll have to send me examples Alex. I’ve never seen that, even in contemporary books, and from all the style guides I’ve read, that’s not kosher. I’m not the expert on this stuff though!
Well, here for example … http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2011/08/mind-your-en-and-em-dashes-typographic-etiquette/ , which cites https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Elements_of_Typographic_Style
This is useful. I’ ve been abusing ellipses forever … Now to put them out of their misery — m-dashes, n-dashes and hypens, here I come!~
Slightly easier way to create em-dash: CONTROL + ALT + (the minus sign on the keypad). This is on a PC as opposed to a Mac.
I totally agree that Liz very, very clear in the meanings of the dashes. However, for me, right now, I would stick with the punctuation that I use. Who knows, now that I have a little more, thanks to LIz about these dashes, I might use the in the future. Thanks so much to you Liz and Jo. Ken
“As with dessert, wine, and Nikki Minaj concerts, moderation is the key.” – Best thing I’ve read all day. And first en-dash I’ve ever used without Word doing it for me. Thank you for this article Liz, I had no idea about the details between these three. I’m putting on my cone of shame and carrying on now. 🙂
What is the option key? I suspect it is an apple thing.
Thank you so much.
Ashley stared at Max, who was sitting in the middle of the disheveled living room. She crossed her arms across her chest and sighed. She wondered to herself if it was even possible to get her son to clean her room. Not only does he disobey he clear instructions – something he does daily – but he even seems to show no remorse for doing so. She clenched her fists and could feel the first pangs of anger inside her.
“MAX”, shouted Ashley, “WHAT are you doing?”
Max was facing away from her in the middle of the room and shifted his head slightly to acknowledge her. Apparently, now, he even refused to look at her when being addressed. He had barely turned eight and he acted as if he was the king of the house.
“What now lady? I’m busy. Why don’t you come back late –“
But before he could finish she marched up to him, pulled him up by his arm, and slapped him across his face. Max seemed to recoil in pain and fear. She did everything she could do to restrain herself from slapping him again and repeatedly. Tears slowly started to percolate around the corner of his eyes.
“NOT ANYMORE Maxwell Simpson!”, she screamed. “You’re not going to ignore me ANYMORE!. I have had it with your attitude and had it with you getting off easy every time!”
Max’s left had was still holding the left side of his face where the blow landed. She could see the fear in his eyes – a first – as she went off on him. Inside, it was unbearable for her to do this to her own son, but the time was due past. For the first time in her life, she summoned the courage to discipline her own son.
hi, Liz. I realize you wrote this years ago (from the comments), but I’m reading it for the first time and wow! I never knew there were three dashes. Now I know. Very cool. Thanks!