Hyphens and dashes (-) appear to look similar but serve different purposes in the English language
Use dashes (-) to;
To present a list of items, objects.
There are many parts to writing an essay- an introductory paragraph, the body paragraphs, and the concluding paragraphs.
Your new pet turtle might need many things such as – a cage, some food, a heating rock, a light, a feeding dish.
When you go on you camping trip, you should bring- a flashlight, a sleeping bag, some food, clothes, toiletries, and a comfort object.
To add emphasis or extra information in a sentence
Those two restaurants- Pizza Lovers and Carusos- serve the best Italian food ever.
I like your blue dress- it goes well with your blue suede shoes.
These four floors- which include restrooms, balconies, and mini bars- are open all night.
People have a hard time understanding the new girl- who is from Jamaica.
I found the correct answer on -Pg (29.)
Ferrets- which smell really bad- are one of the animals I hate the most.
Use dashes after a statement or thought that is interrupted, these type of dashes are used a lot in novels.
The receptionist announced to the man, “She was here to see-”
“Tom?” He abruptly cut her off.
She shakily confessed, “I do not think I can do this- ”
“Why, why, don’t you love me?” He interrupted her.
“If you loved me, you’d-”
“What, forget everything that I live for!” She shouted.
This world is full of evil- I should know- and we have to stand together to bring peace forward.
Students must focus on their education- and work their hardest to graduate.
Every employee deserves to be treated equally- we know that is not the case- so if anyone knows of an employer who is harassing employees, please do not hesitate to report them.
Use dashes to represent a range of numbers
There are about 30-100 green cars on the road.
The pet store holds 5-10 different types of reptiles.
Hyphens look similar to the dash (-) but serve for a different purpose and used differently.
Hyphens are used to;
To separate written numbers that consist of two words or two parts
Thirty-one, Fifty-five, Sixty-eight, Thirty-three, Eighty-eight
Use hyphens, in certain compound adjectives and nouns. Compound adjectives and nouns are two or more words that are used together to make one word.
Daughter-in-law
Redhead
Keyboard
Childlike
Use hyphens when there is not enough room to place a word on the same line. (Use this as a last resort)
The Aquarium is so full of beautiful sea life; I really had a great time looking at the ma-
rine life.
The sun was so bright that we had to go to the store and pick up an umbrella. The um-
brella was not cheap.
I prefer walking over getting in cars; I have had a fear of cars since the accident. Walk-ing is so much healthier for you too.
Use hyphens when writing out fractions
Three-fourths, one-third, two-eighths
We ate three-sixths of the pie.
