Most grammar resources and style guides advise not to put any spaces before or after an em dash. Grammatically, the main thing to keep in mind about the em dash is spacing. The dark secret was kept in a journal -that journal would never be found.The dark secret was kept in a journal that journal would never be found.The Narrator finally realized the truth -Tyler Durden wasn’t real.Īn em dash can replace a semicolon that connects two independent sentences.The Narrator finally realized the truth : Tyler Durden wasn’t real.After his long journey, Gawain finally found out what was in the lockbox -nothing!.After his long journey, Gawain finally found out what was in the lockbox : nothing!.Again, this is often done to draw a reader’s attention. ColonĪn em dash can replace a colon that introduces additional information at the end of a sentence. Ready to test your punctuation skills? Quiz yourself on hyphens, en dashes, and em dashes. It’s crazy that echidnas are mammals when they lay eggs -don’t even get me started on those platypuses!.(Don’t even get me started on those platypuses!) It’s crazy that echidnas are mammals when they lay eggs.The plan was devised by Ryan -my archnemesis!-so it will obviously fail.The plan was devised by Ryan (my archnemesis!), so it will obviously fail.In general, em dashes are much more likely to be used this way in informal writing. It turned out that the three sisters -Alexa, Siri, and Cortana-were actually robotsĮm dashes can replace parentheses that contain interruptions or commentary.It turned out that the three sisters, Alexa, Siri, and Cortana, were actually robots.Jimi Hendrix -a master guitar player if there ever was one-was left-handed.Įm dashes are especially useful for clarity if the additional information that would normally be set of by commas has additional commas itself:. ![]()
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