English question - proper use of the hyphen or dash or whatever it is called

[dullard]

Suppose you are writing a report - as a graduation requirement - and need to know the proper use of the dash/hyphen/whatever. In what cases are hyphens allowed and in what cases are hyphens not acceptable? I am bad at grammar; however, I always remember being told to use hyphens to separate out additional descriptive material that is not necessary for a complete sentence. I do not think, though, that I truely learned proper use of the hyphen.

I've used hyphens in two locations in this post. There is a total of three hyphens in the post. Are either of those correct ways of using hyphens? I'm writing a paper which is heavy in mathematics and thus I would like to avoid using any more parathesies than absolutely necessary. Thus, I use hyphens. Yet everyone who reads my writing immediately complains about the hyphens. So my elementary school teachers must have been incorrect in teaching me to use hyphens. Help.

Edited for better choice of words. Thanks Lifer.

 

[Lifer]

it's called a hyphen.

 

[morkinva]

I'd think the way you used hyphens was incorrect. You wanted to use a dash instead of a hyphen. A dash symbol is like a double hyphen. --

Hyphens are used when people change their married names to Epstein-Lipshitz, or when appending words together in general.

Then again, I don't know squat

 

[dullard]

Originally posted by: morkinva
I'd think the way you used hyphens was incorrect. You wanted to use a dash instead of a hyphen. A dash symbol is like a double hyphen. --

Hyphens are used when people change their married names to Epstein-Lipshitz, or when appending words together in general.

Then again, I don't know squat

Ok now I'm just more confused than ever. My whole post used the word 'dash', but Lifer said I should use the word 'hyphen'. What is the difference, and when are each supposed to be used?

 

[ggavinmoss]

Don't confuse a hypen (the key on your keyboard) with an M-Dash. ? [Alt+0150] is an M-Dash.

-geoff

 

[FeathersMcGraw]

There's a difference between an em-dash and a hyphen.

 

[Ikonomi]

Originally posted by: morkinva
I'd think the way you used hyphens was incorrect. You wanted to use a dash instead of a hyphen. A dash symbol is like a double hyphen. --

Hyphens are used when people change their married names to Epstein-Lipshitz, or when appending words together in general.

Then again, I don't know squat

You're right.

To seperate clauses in a sentence -- like this one, for example -- use the em dash. It's a dash that's the width of a lower case "m", often typed as two hyphens. Programs like Word will usually turn double hyphens into em dashes for you.

Edit: A note about em dash usage! Some people omit the spaces before and after an em dash--like this. I believe AP rules mandate that you leave spaces -- like this. I prefer the latter method, since it makes the text more aesthetically appealing.

There's another dash, the en dash, which is slightly shorter than the em dash. It's used in very limited circumstances, usually involving numbers. I think an example would be birth and death dates: "Joseph Johnson, 1902 -- 2003". I could be wrong on this one. I'm a little unclear on the en dash, but I think that's what I remember.

Hyphens are used for, well, hyphenation. Epstein-Lipshitz is a really good example. A hyphen is also what you use when a word wraps around the page on a typewriter. Keep in mind that there's a set of rules for when you can break a word and when to avoid it. Hyphens also show up in certain situations where you combine two words. "Bose-Einstein Condensate" is one example, but it's just names again, like morkinva's example. I can't think of anything off the top of my head. Hyphens can also be used with a kind of informal or conversational quality, to combine words into a phrase. Think "know-it-all" or "good-for-nothing".

Use your best judgment.

 

[ggavinmoss]

http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~wricntr/documents/GP.html

More on the M-dash.

-geoff

 

[jjones]

THE HYPHEN

The hyphen is used as a common punctuation mark in English. Its legitimate use is in the case where two (or more) existing words are joined together to make a new word with a new meaning, eg :

coats-of-arms, make-believe, a well-fed cat, multi-storey, cross-curricular, state-of-the-art

Note that there are no spaces on either side of the hyphen. The point is that they are NEW. As and when these words come into more common usage the hyphen tends to get dropped and the new word becomes acceptable without hyphenation and is legitimised by use. There are many words like this:

multimedia, supermarket, postgraduate, makeup, microelectronic, interactive

This needs constantly watching, as gradual common usage may quickly make the hyphen appear prosaic and antiquated.
The hyphen is also used very loosely to indicate vagueness, eg: forty-ish.


THE DASH

Used as a pause in a sentence, or to make a turn or change in thought, or to indicate a range of values. Eg :

?He said ? and I think he was wrong in this ? that all history is bunkum!?

Prices are in the range £15.00 - £25.00.

These kinds of instance include a space on either side of the dash.

 

[Lifer]

i stand corrected.

hyphens are those things between phone numbers 123-456-7890

 

[dullard]

Originally posted by: FeathersMcGraw
There's a difference between an em-dash and a hyphen.

Ok that is the best answer I've seen. Unfortunately I'm now more confused than I was before. I'll look it over multiple times and try to figure everything out. Basically if I switch the the em-dash, and if I remove the spaces, then is my first sentence in the first post is correct?

"Suppose you are writing a report?as a graduation requirement?and need to know the proper use of the dash."

 

[weirdichi]

Use the dash to emphasize something that is of importance to the previous statement. Parenthesis are used when you think the following statement is not as important (think of the things inside parenthesis as a whisper). Been a while since my linguistics classes so I'm a little rusty. Hope that helps.

 

[Ikonomi]

Originally posted by: dullard

Originally posted by: FeathersMcGraw
There's a difference between an em-dash and a hyphen.

Ok that is the best answer I've seen. Unfortunately I'm now more confused than I was before. I'll look it over multiple times and try to figure everything out. Basically if I switch the the em-dash, and if I remove the spaces, then is my first sentence in the first post is correct?

"Suppose you are writing a report?as a graduation requirement?and need to know the proper use of the dash."

You do not have to remove the spaces before and after an em-dash. I promise. It even looks better spaced.

In that sentence, your use of the dash is kind of weird. It's not needed. The sentence would flow written as "Suppose you are writing a report as a graduation requirement and need to know the proper use of the dash."

A better use would be "Suppose you are writing a report -- it's a graduation requirement -- and need to know the proper use of the dash." In that case, the dashes function like parentheses. The sentence should make sense if you omit the clause seperated by dashes: "Suppose you are writing a report and need to know the proper use of the dash."

Read my other post... I think it makes sense.

 

[dullard]

Originally posted by: Ikonomi

You do not have to remove the spaces before and after an em-dash. I promise. It even looks better spaced.

I have always used spaces, but I'm just going by the link above suggestion that American English omits them. I too fell it looks better with spaces.

A better use would be "Suppose you are writing a report -- it's a graduation requirement -- and need to know the proper use of the dash." In that case, the dashes function like parentheses. The sentence should make sense if you omit the clause seperated by dashes: "Suppose you are writing a report and need to know the proper use of the dash."

Suggestion noted. It was just a quick and simple example I thought of while posting. Thus, the dashes are probably not necessary.

 

[allisolm]

Thanks for this, my learn (or relearn) something new today. I had forgotten about the em-dash and have just been using hyphens as em-dashes. Will make mental note to do better.

 

[weirdichi]

Originally posted by: Ikonomi

Originally posted by: dullard

Originally posted by: FeathersMcGraw
There's a difference between an em-dash and a hyphen.

Ok that is the best answer I've seen. Unfortunately I'm now more confused than I was before. I'll look it over multiple times and try to figure everything out. Basically if I switch the the em-dash, and if I remove the spaces, then is my first sentence in the first post is correct?

"Suppose you are writing a report?as a graduation requirement?and need to know the proper use of the dash."

You do not have to remove the spaces before and after an em-dash. I promise. It even looks better spaced.

In that sentence, your use of the dash is kind of weird. It's not needed. The sentence would flow written as "Suppose you are writing a report as a graduation requirement and need to know the proper use of the dash."

A better use would be "Suppose you are writing a report -- it's a graduation requirement -- and need to know the proper use of the dash." In that case, the dashes function like parentheses. The sentence should make sense if you omit the clause seperated by dashes: "Suppose you are writing a report and need to know the proper use of the dash."

Read my other post... I think it makes sense.

It's not necessarily weird to use the dash there. He may be emphasizing that part. I can read it with the dashes as meaning that the requirement is of major importance, that it could mean he graduates or doesn't, as opposed to just dropping his grade very low.

It's true that you can go without the dashes and use the example you showed, however it would still be okay to use it the other way. The word "as" was omitted and its inclusion conveys slightly different meanings. Including it suggests to me that like what I stated above, that the report is part of his grade and even if he fails it, he could still graduate. Omitting the word "as" suggests to me that if he fails the report, then he doesn't graduate.

All in all, it's up to the writer to decide what to emphasize and how and when to use the dash. Hope that helps.

Hyphens are used when you want to join two separate words that are used as one word: "You dog-faced liar!"

 

[StageLeft]

Holy crap I never knew the diff between a hyphen and m-dash. Glad I saw this thread

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

Hyphens are not used to surround unnecessary information every time. Notice the following, for instance:

"My mother, Roni, is a farktard."

I could have easily said "My mother is a farktard" because I only have one mother and it is not required that I specify which one. However, in the case that specific info would be required, use "My friend Jeff is a farktard."

Hyphens are usually used for interjecting unnecessary information that is even more loosely tied to the info that it is interjecting, or momentarily changing the subject entirely.

"My friend Jeff is a farktard -whom I have not talked to in a while anyway."

 

[StageLeft]

Hyphens are usually used for interjecting unnecessary information that is even more loosely tied to the info that it is interjecting, or momentarily changing the subject entirely.

Yeah I agree!