Tagged Questions
2
votes
6answers
228 views
Em dash vs semicolon: which is more appropriate in the following examples?
I am very confused by these, and even when I understand other people's usage of them I find it difficult to know when to employ them myself. For this reason, I am trying to make my own examples and ...
-2
votes
2answers
84 views
What is the best way and what are the differences to introduce a “pause explanatory” phrase inside another one? [closed]
In this example:
bla bla bla phrase such as even if something like this doesn’t exist bla bla bla.
What can I use to inject my phrase in the middle of the sentence?
,phrase, (commas)
;phrase; ...
0
votes
1answer
880 views
“—” vs. “;” vs. “,” vs. “()” — what's the difference? [closed]
All of these punctuation marks seem to have the same purpose.
Is there any general guideline for picking one for each use case?
7
votes
4answers
356 views
When and why did the em-dash and the hyphen supplant the semicolon?
It seems to me that semicolons are rarely used today in ordinary English writing - even in newspapers and books. They appear to have been replaced, in many cases, by em-dashes and hyphens (the hyphen ...
2
votes
2answers
1k views
What are the rules on when to use commas, colons, semicolons and dashes?
What are the rules on when to use commas, colons, semicolons and dashes?
31
votes
5answers
5k views
Should I use a semicolon or a dash to connect two closely related sentences?
When you want to connect two closely related sentences, you can use a semicolon or a dash. (You can also use a dash for other kinds of non-sentential relations). How would you choose whether to use a ...
