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 semicolon or dash?
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6 Answers
I don't think I was ever taught a clear-cut rule, and as a non-native speaker, I am probably spoiled to some extent by the usage of dashes in other languages. That being said, following nothing but my intuition I would use:
- a semicolon when the sentences express related, yet independent (especially grammatically independent) thoughts; they could well stand on their own, separated by a period.
- a dash when the second sentence backs up the first one, nails it down to something, restates or amplifies it, provides reasons or examples, or when the second sentence could not stand on its own "as is" for grammatical reasons.
I will try to demonstrate my point by rewording the notorious examples from The Oatmeal accordingly.
- My aunt had hairy knuckles; she loved to wash and comb them.
- My aunt had hairy knuckles — she suffered from hirsutism.
- When dinosaurs agree on something, they'll often high-five one another; dinosaurs are all about high-fives.
- When dinosaurs agree on something, they'll often high-five one another — they cannot talk and have to resort to gestures.
- I gnaw on old car tires; it strengthens my jaw so I'll be better conditioned for bear combat.
- I gnaw on old car tires — to strengthen my jaw so I'll be better conditioned for bear combat.
Again, this is just my two cents, and I'm only putting them in because the other answers so far seem to miss the point of your question by focusing on non-sentential relations and sometimes not even mentioning semicolons at all. I don't know whether my answer comes close to being correct or not, but I hope it will at least serve as a turning point for getting the discussion back on topic.
answered Oct 14, 2010 at 11:29
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1A semicolon works like a period. A dash works like a colon — or can. That previous use is not one such, though.– tchrist ♦Commented May 31, 2012 at 0:52
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4"I gnaw on old car tires — to strengthen my jaw […]" pretty sure this is grammatically incorrect.– mk12Commented Sep 30, 2013 at 0:58
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1@tchrist - If a dash works like a colon, what's the difference between a dash and colon, then?– broofaCommented Sep 7, 2015 at 15:16
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My general rule is that semi-colons usually connect two phrases or sentences to another, but it's also used as a dividing character, for instance to separate two series. "A red, white, and blue; a green, black, and yellow; and also a red, white, and green flag dangled in the wind." An my rule for hyphens is that it's generally used as an aside allowing the author to interject opinion to the reader, which is why you may see a phrase written in first person. "The man was short — shorter than anyone I had seen before — allowing him to duck under the neighboring fan." But there are many rules.– vol7ronCommented Jul 14, 2017 at 5:12
Semicolon is used to join sentences that can stand alone, but are joined to emphasize their relationship.
En dashes are used to indicate periods of time or other numerical ranges.
Hyphens are used to combine open compounds.
Em dashes are used to disrupt the flow of a sentence and bring emphasis to the coming point. It is a more informal and stronger version of the colon. It can also act as a stronger version of the comma.
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1Interesting. Do you have citations for these rules? Are these stylistic rules only? Commented Aug 26, 2010 at 18:53
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2I am not sure what to define as stylistic and not. Wouldn't that be anything to be used for emphasis? web.mit.edu/comdor/editguide/style-matters/punctuation.html Commented Aug 27, 2010 at 3:23
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@Eruditass, Are you sure they're stronger than the colon not the other way round?– PacerierCommented Oct 22, 2017 at 14:19
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In Britain, it is more common to see the en dash used for what you describe the em dash is used for Commented Jan 16, 2018 at 18:43
Typically, if I'm connecting two closely related sentences, I use a semicolon; I use dashes in instances where commas would also be acceptable—usually where commas would be confusing—or where parentheses would also be acceptable.
Firstly, you should be aware that there are two different kinds of dashes: the en dash and the em dash.
The em dash (—; historically, an em is precisely the width of the letter "M", but now defined by the height of the font) is generally used to add a passage into the middle or end of a sentence. This is similar to using parenthesis, but should be read without adding a pause. Moreover, the em dash in fact interrupts the sentence, so no pause should be used at all; an interruption should be emphasized.
This dash is also often used as a de facto interruption; for example in dialog when the speaker for some reason cannot continue.
In use, the em dash is not surrounded by spaces. This is done—like this—because it otherwise uses excessive spacing.
Some publishers or style guidelines may instead prefer the narrower en dash (–; an en half the width of an em). This character is usually – as in this example – surrounded by spaces.
Suggestions on the use of semicolons can be found as answers to this question.
answered Aug 5, 2010 at 23:23
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4+1 just for mentioning en and em; correcting others' dashes used to be a not insignificant source of grief for me.– PopsCommented Aug 6, 2010 at 4:39
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3@Popular: a much larger problem is the common accidental usage of a hyphen when an em dash is meant. This is worrisome because they have the opposite meaning: hyphens connect and glue things together, and em dashes separate and break things up. It drives me up the wall when a hyphen is used instead of a long dash. It really muddies the sentence up. Commented Aug 6, 2010 at 4:54
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@Jared, that grief I referred to was suffered when I was a copy editor, so I know exactly what you mean.– PopsCommented Aug 6, 2010 at 5:15
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5@Jared, I'm slightly worried that incorrect usage of a glyph a few dots or pixels narrower "drives [you] up the wall." Take it easy mate. We're aware of the significance; needn't get angry at those who aren't. Whether it's an en dash, an em dash or a hyphen, it's often quite clear which is intended. Commented Aug 6, 2010 at 22:34
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2In American typography it's appropriate to add a thin space on both sides of an em dash, and slightly less commonly, an en dash. Unfortunately thin spaces are difficult to type and sometimes aren't rendered correctly. Still, as someone who's set a lot of type, em spaces pushed right up next to their surrounding words look far too tight to my eyes. Examples with full spaces, thin spaces, and no spaces (pad to push to its own line): M — L vs M — L vs M—L. Commented May 19, 2011 at 6:28
In Comma Sense (Richard Lederer and John Shore — ISBN 0-312-34255-1) it's reported that the dash is used:
- to set off a though or explanatory remark with a sentence: If I remember well — bear in mind I have been on New York City 5 years ago — Central Park is close to Fifth Avenue.
- to introduce an appositive: When I frequented the ITIS — the secondary school on Cantore Street — I was still a teenager.
- to signify a sudden change in thought: We are going to — what's that burning smell?
- before the citation of an author or source of a quotation.
In the other cases, a different punctation should be used.
answered Aug 27, 2010 at 9:10
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Your 4 examples of dashes are not the usage of dash he's talking about—he's talking about that which works like the thing between colon and semicolon.– PacerierCommented Oct 20, 2017 at 7:08
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The question is How would you choose whether to use a semicolon or dash? I said when I would use a dash, not that his example suits for using a dash. Commented Oct 20, 2017 at 7:12
Here is what I think:
Semicolon is a mood-switcher
It switches your "learning mood" to "exciting mood" and vice versa.
When dinosaurs agree on something, they often high-five one another; dinosaurs are all about high-fives.
Godzilla is a misunderstood creature; beneath his raging desire to set people on fire & eat them lies a gentle giant who just wants to cuddle
Dash is an explainer
It further explains a concept before it.When dinosaurs agree on something, they'll often high-five one another — they cannot talk and have to resort to gestures.
Godzilla is a misunderstood creature — beneath his raging desire to set people on fire & eat them lies a gentle giant who just wants to cuddle
This answer is inspired by RegDwigнt's answer.
