Anonymous Posted 15 years ago
Grammar
Dash usage
Hi. Please help. I think in regard to dash usage, what comes after a dash describes or adds details to (or something to that effect) to the part that comes before it, which is the main clause (at least in most of the cases we normally see in writing - if I am not mistaken). And I think the below illustrates that pattern.
He spent too much time playing computer games yesterday -- five hours straight, to be exact, even skipping dinner.
This pattern of "the right part describing or adding details to the left" doesn't seem to hold true when I see sentences like these. It seems hard to tell me which part is describing or adding details to which part?
1. But -- why do you say that?
2. Excellent writing -- you write very well.
He spent too much time playing computer games yesterday -- five hours straight, to be exact, even skipping dinner.
This pattern of "the right part describing or adding details to the left" doesn't seem to hold true when I see sentences like these. It seems hard to tell me which part is describing or adding details to which part?
1. But -- why do you say that?
2. Excellent writing -- you write very well.
Top answer
The em-dash has more uses than that. I can't say I'd use it the way it is used in example 1, but example 2 is very natural. " It's a very flexible punctuation mark.
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The em-dash has more uses than that. I can't say I'd use it the way it is used in example 1, but example 2 is very natural.
To quote the OWL at Purdue: "Dashes are used to set off or emphasize the content enclosed within dashes or the content that follows a dash."
It's a very flexible punctuation mark.
To quote the OWL at Purdue: "Dashes are used to set off or emphasize the content enclosed within dashes or the content that follows a dash."
It's a very flexible punctuation mark.
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