ShmoopTube

00:03

A dash might not look like the most complicated punctuation mark. [Kid dressed in a flash costume runs about]

00:06

It doesn't have the elegant loop of a question mark…

00:09

…or even the sleek, ground-hugging dots of an ellipsis. [Question mark and ellipsis sat at a table having tea]

00:13

But it turns out there's more than meets the eye to this little line.

00:16

But before we dive into everything dash related, it's worth pointing out that there are actually [Person dives into a pool]

00:21

two kinds of dashes: the em dash and the en dash.

00:25

The longer of the two is the em dash.

00:28

It's about as long as the letter "M." Which kinda makes sense, based on its name and all. [The two types of dash]

00:33

The shorter one is the en dash.

00:35

And—surprise surprise—it's about as long as the letter "N."

00:39

The en dash is the simpler of the two dashes.

00:42

It's used to show ranges of things, like dates and numbers.

00:46

So if we had a sentence like: "Mr. Hart said we need to read pages 1 to 250 for tomorrow"… [Group of students using computers]

00:52

…then we could easily replace that "to" with a clean little en dash.

00:57

Finishing those 250 pages of readings, however won't be as easy. [Student reading books]

01:01

Em dashes have different, but equally important jobs.

01:04

Rumor has it, they have the code for the nukes… [Big red button appears]

01:07

Oh, and they're also pretty useful whenever sentences are cut short.

01:10

So…y'know, equal importance people.

01:13

Say you're yelling something to a friend across the street… [Man waving his arms around]

01:16

…when all of the sudden, a car screeches by, drives through a puddle that splashes [Car drives past and splashes the man]

01:20

you, and cuts your sentence short.

01:23

We could capture this by using an em dash, like so: [Man looks grossed out as he is covered in brown water]

01:26

"I yelled, "Hey, let's go to the—" when a car drove straight through a puddle and

01:31

soaked me."

01:32

Guess the only place you'll be going now is the Laundromat. [Man walks to a laundry]

01:36

We can also use em dashes to connect an independent clause with another independent clause, or

01:41

an appositive.

01:43

Say we've got a sentence like: "I've really gotta go: if I miss the last bus, I'm never [Bus driving away]

01:47

getting home."

01:48

Sure, we could connect those two independent clauses with a colon.

01:52

But for extra emphasis, we can throw in an em dash instead.

01:56

Just be sure to watch the time…no point in having a beautifully placed em dash if [Woman realises she has missed the bus]

02:00

you miss that bus.

02:02

And last but not least, we can also use em dashes to set off parentheticals.

02:07

In a sentence like: "The dogs (the ones we got from the pound) won't stop howling," parentheses [Dogs play fighting with each other]

02:13

do a great job of isolating the parenthetical.

02:16

Seriously.

02:17

Gold star, you guys. [Two gold stars appear]

02:18

But for an added dash of emphasis, we could replace them with em dashes.

02:22

But don't worry parentheses.

02:24

We still love you. [Love hearts]

02:25

But no matter which you pick, they won't help to quiet down those dogs.

02:29

Unless they like chewing up em dashes. [Dog biting on a em dash]

02:32

Worth a shot, oh well.

Full Transcript