#DASH IN SERIES#

Lying, stealing, cheating, committing adultery–which is the greatest sin?.Jealousy, lust, hate, greed–these are the raw emotions we will explore.The most common summary words that writers use are all, those, this, each, what, none, such, these. Finally, you should place a summary word after the dash and preferably before the subject of the sentence, as indicated by the following examples. This pattern is particularly appropriate in conclusions, when you are bringing together the major threads of your discussion or argument. Therefore, use this pattern rarely and only for emphasis.

#DASH IN SERIES#

When you introduce a long series or list of appositives before the subject and verb, you are placing high demands on the reader’s short-term memory. Use a Dash after a Series or List of Appositives

She finally let down her guard-and cried like a baby-when the counselor urged her to let go of her pain.

Childhood obesity has become a grave concern in many parts of the world-particularly during the last two decades.

To highlight information at the end of a sentence.

Genocide-the systematic killing of a racial group-is an atrocity that has created black holes in history.

The young woman took all of the necessary supplies-leash, pet carrier, and paperwork-to the shelter when she went to pick up her newly-adopted dog.To introduce a short list within a sentence.Cell phones, hand-held computers, and built-in TVs-each a possible distraction-can lead to a potentially dangerous situation if used while driving.To provide further explanation, clarification, or a summary of the material that comes before the dash.Use dashes thoughtfully and sparingly, or they may lose their effectiveness. Note: If you put a dash in the middle of your sentence, you need to place another dash at the end of the emphasized information (like parentheses!). I have always known what I want to be-a teacher.The idea of being a teacher-working with kids, summers off-has always appealed to me.Teaching-the profession has always appealed to me.Either way is fine!ĭashes can be placed at the beginning, middle, or end of a sentence, depending on what you want to emphasize: Some Word programs will automatically join your hyphens together to make a dash, and some will leave the space. The hyphen key is next to the +/= key on your keyboard (the same key with the underscore _ ). You make a dash by hitting the hyphen key twice.

To form a dash, type two hyphens-without a space before, after, or between them-and your word processor will convert them to a dash. Dashes interrupt a thought in a more dramatic way than a phrase enclosed in commas, but less theatrically than parentheses. A dash (-) is a punctuation mark used to set off an idea within a sentence and may be used alone or in pairs.

Dash in