THE DASH [ — ]

Punctuation used to denote a sudden change or break in a sentence, e.g. He was gone — heaven forbid — for an hour and no one knew where he was. Spaces may or may not be added before or after a dash, but the use of spaces must be consistent. Do not combine a dash with a colon, comma, or semicolon. Apply the following rules when using the dash:

To begin, find out about the purposes for which the dash is used. Click on a link below to read the rules and see examples, take a guided tour by clicking the 'start' button below.

1. As a substitute for parentheses or commas in an attempt to clarify meaning or place emphasis, especially for a series within a phrase, e.g. She has this to accomplish today — work, study, cook, and household duties — as well as take care of her child.
2. Before an amplification, definition, explanation, or summary statement, e.g. To be or not to be — that is a question we each ask ourselves at night before we turn out the light.
3. At the end of an unfinished word or sentence, e.g. The story went on to say that—.
4. To precede an author's credit for a quotation, e.g. "As a cure for worrying, work is better than whiskey." — Thomas A. Edison
5. As a way of setting off something in page design, as for lists, outlines.
6. The en dash is used in typeset material and is shorter than the em dash, which is represented in typewritten material by two hyphens. The en dash is used as a replacement for a hyphen when the meaning intended is 'up to and including', e.g. 1987-91, Monday-Saturday.
7. A two-em (four-hyphen) dash is used to show missing letters in a word.
8. A three-em (six-hyphen) dash is used to show that a word is left out or that an unknown word or number is to be supplied.
9. To introduce individual sections of a list. Capitalize the first word following the dash and use periods at the end of each section.