Dashes with other punctuation
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Dashes with other punctuation
So, I'm wondering if the following examples would be permissible? With regards to the punctuation, I mean; in terms of content, they're deplorably lame, but they're just examples to illustrate the punctuation issues! Also, I can't make an en-dash in here, so I've put two hyphens in to represent an en-dash (in preference to an em-dash).
1) He chose the challenge -- the adventure, and he would live to regret it.
Is this permissible or must there be an closing dash with no comma.
2) He chose the challenge -- the adventure; he would live to regret it.
Is that permissible? It would surely be if a full stop were chosen instead of a semicolon.
Additional question: If you choose to use an em-dash, may one still have spaces at either side or is there some strict rule forbidding it? I know it is probably common not to have the spaces, which is one of the reasons I prefer to use the option with the en-dash.
Comments
No takers?
Publishers and publications usually have their own prescriptive in-house rules for the use of dashes, but the easiest thing is to leave it to the editors.
Personally, I use dashes freely in the sort of written style that I feel suitable for online postings, emails etc. So I'd never mix a dash with a formal semi-colon as in your (2). As for the comma in (1), in this style I'd use a full stop, and begin the next sentence with And.
Another thing I prefer personally is to separate with two dashes, so I'd change your (1) to
He chose the challenge — the adventure — and he would live to regret it.
I like white space, so I personally have spaces either side of the dash. There may be a rule to the contrary, but I don't care.
Since writing this, I've consulted David Crystal's descriptive (and highly readable) book on punctuation:
He reports some early prescriptive obsessions such as the difference between a hyphen and an en-dash.
(I never knew there was one.)
In the nineteenth century, printers settled on the standard en and em measurements, symbols and terminology.
Crystal reports three uses for en
This is of no interest to me with my informal writing style, but I understand that you produce professional technical translations. So perhaps you should be substituting en dashes for some hyphens before publication.
Crystal reports a history of efforts to avoid — largely non-existent — ambiguities by maintaining a strict distinction between hyphens and en dashes.
Much more interesting is the use of em dashes, and how they correspond to alternative uses of commas and round brackets. More on this in a future post.
Publishers and publications usually have their own prescriptive in-house rules for the use of dashes, but the easiest thing is to leave it to the editors.
Personally, I use dashes freely in the sort of written style that I feel suitable for online postings, emails etc. So I'd never mix a dash with a formal semi-colon as in your (2). As for the comma in (1), in this style I'd use a full stop, and begin the next sentence with And.
Another thing I prefer personally is to separate with two dashes, so I'd change your (1) to
He chose the challenge — the adventure — and he would live to regret it.
I like white space, so I personally have spaces either side of the dash. There may be a rule to the contrary, but I don't care.
This was a part-duplicate that I couldn't delete.
I've just realised that I posted a link to the wrong David Crystal book. His punctuation book is:
David Crystal identifies the em dash as 'one of the main ways of showing an included unit in a sentence.
On the form of its use, he offers
The 'solid' use is out of favour. As I said, I personally prefer space-em-space, but Crystal prefers and uses space-en-space.
As to use, with short sentences there's relatively little difference between:
As the sentences get longer, the advantage of em dashes becomes apparent
If the included unit is itself a sentence, the comma option is not available.
But what — if anything — is the difference? Crystal judges that if em dashes are used
He quotes from the published text of Tom Stoppard's play Rosencranta and Guilderstern Are Dead, and shows how less satisfactory it would be with round brackets.
@norwegianblue, it's not impossible to type en and em dashes — whatever your computer or operating system. There are lots pf web pages offering solutions. I suggest this Wikipedia entry, as it's liable to be corrected and updated.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:How_to_make_dashes
Thank so much for your replies, @DavidCrosbie.