Dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster has compiled information on the usage of the em dash (—), en dash (–), and hyphen (-) in English writing. Em dashes function like commas, colons, or parentheses ...

Hyphens are only used to combine certain words together. They are not strong enough to set off phrases or words from a sentence. Use hyphens in the following situations: Use in compound numbers and ...

If you’ve ever found yourself confused about the difference between a dash and a hyphen, and when to use a hyphen, you’re far from alone. When you handwrite them, they probably look exactly the same.

In the video from The New Yorker’s YouTube channel, Comma Queen Mary Norris breaks down the rules for all three dashes. They hyphen is the shortest mark and is used for making compound words (like ...

This is an excerpt from Post copy editor Bill Walsh’s monthly Grammar Geekery chat, which takes place the first Tuesday of each month. Chatters wanted to explore the many punctuation marks that ...

When we're writing, we can add extra words to a sentence to give more information or explanation. We call the extra words that have been added a parenthesis. Parenthesis is a word or clause inserted ...

As a rule, I prefer to make fun of myself rather than make fun of others, but in my previous column I departed from my usual approach. I poked a little fun at people who use dots and dashes as default ...

The dash is the Kim Kardashian of punctuation marks: misplaced, over-exposed, shamelessly self-promoting, always eager to elbow out her jealous sisters the comma, colon, and semicolon. My friend and ...