12/12/2023 0 Comments Em dash examplesAnother hot debate is the overuse of the em dash. The em dash enjoys a bit of a cult following, and many writers enjoy debating its many uses. Depending on how a writer uses an em dash, slightly different effects will result. You can even use an em dash in place of quotation marks in certain instances. It depends on the context the writer is going for, but an em dash can be used in place of parentheses, commas, or colons. When it comes to punctuation marks, the beloved em dash is one of the most versatile. Specifically, an em dash is about the width of an uppercase letter M. UK English prefers a spaced en dash normally, while our counterparts over the Atlantic use the closed em dash as standard.An em dash is a punctuation mark that looks like a hyphen but is wider. If in doubt, you can normally tell which is preferred based on whether you are writing in UK or US English. So, make sure to double check which one your client prefers before you start putting em dashes to use in their copy. Newspaper style guides and others that follow AP style however, are likely to favour spacing em dashes - like this. Most style guides I’ve come across ask for em dashes to be used without any spaces between-much like this. One final piece of advice for any future em dash users out there: double check your style guide before using them. Whether it’s avoiding overusing commas, stripping out repetitive brackets, or just making your copy look nicer and more varied-the em dash is a powerful tool that all copywriters should try and master. While there are some subtle nuances between using a comma or bracket and an em dash, it’s mostly best suited to adding variety to your copy. Em dashes can help emphasise these key points and bring them to life for your reader. Sometimes a bit of extra info at the end can of a sentence really ram home a key point in your argument. “Product X accelerates deployment times, helping you meet the needs of your customers-fast.” When you want to split your message away from the main sentence, but without detracting from its value, the em dash can help. While brackets are a great way to include additional information without breaking the flow of the sentence, they often lead to that information feeling separate from your argument, and less relevant as a result. “Product X helps you do stuff better-and at a lower cost-than competing solutions.” A well-timed em dash can also help break up your sentences visually, making it easier and more appealing to read. By using an em dash here, you can keep both clauses in the sentence without bringing the comma-pocalypse. Sentences like this, that use the rule of three, it can become a real comma overload if you have another clause in there. “Product X can help you do stuff better-transforming the way you meet, greet, and treat your customers.” You can use the em dash in a variety of ways: As a more impactful comma replacement, an alternative to parentheses, or a way to round off a sentence in a snappy, concise way. You probably already know how to use hyphens and en dashes (even if you didn’t know it was called an en dash before), so I’ll just be sticking to talking about the em dash for now. You’d use it to distinguish a cloud-ready platform (a platform that’s ready for the cloud) as opposed to a cloud platform that is ready for… something else.
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