Commas

Dashes

Semicolons

Colons

Apostrophes

Numbers

Dashes

To use a dash, locate the hyphen key to the right of the 0 (zero) on your keyboard. Two hyphens represent a dash (--).

Dashes can emphasize:

• examples Last week, the cafeteria provided free exam snacks--ice cream sundaes, sandwiches, and pizza--to all students.
• appositives My brothers--Nick and Justin--studied abroad in Ireland last semester.
• contrasts The government's role in gun control remains an important issue--but it's also controversial.
• asides (nonessential elements) The article--albeit short--provided good information for my research paper.

Do not overuse dashes. If a certain phrase allows you to use either a dash or a comma, semicolon, or period, you should not use the dash.

Example:

Throughout his life--he never missed a day of work--not even when he was sick. (overuse of dashes)

Although he sometimes became ill, he never missed a day of work. (preferable construction)