DawnMorningStar

Speaking of dashes...

Are they ever appropriate in the middle of a sentence? For a while now, I've been using them (sparingly) instead of commas when I want certain things to be emphasized or stand out better. For example:

Unsure of what to do--for he didn’t want to risk injuring her--he gazed around, his eyes darting furiously from face to face as he searched for his father.

Do the dashes work here, or are only commas allowed? Is there any specific rule on when or when not to use the dashes?

eleutheromaniac

Nietzsche used that a lot in his works (or his translator did anyway) here's one example:

Morality as it has been understood hitherto -- as it was ultimately formulated by Schopenhauer as 'denial of the will to life' -- it is the judgement of the judged .....

Essentially, he uses them to parenthesize a part of his whole thought. As far as I know, there are no hard rules about what you use as a parenthetical marker, be it [,{,<,(, -- or, as I did in my book, ~~~~~. As long as you're only using them for parenthetical purposes, it's okay. But, I don't think the example you used fits.

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DawnMorningStar

Alright, thanks. That's pretty much what I figured. That wasn't the best example, I know.

So if you're using them within a sentence like that, there needs to be a space before and after like:

Morality as it has been understood hitherto -- as it was ultimately formulated by Schopenhauer

instead of:

Morality as it has been understood hitherto--as it was ultimately formulated by Schopenhauer ?

eleutheromaniac

Not sure, that's the way it is in Nietzsche's work. It does make it more clear. Hmmm... this gives me an idea for a thread.

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DawnMorningStar

Alright, thanks. I'd always left the space out, but it would be nice to know if there's a clearly defined "correct" way of doing it.

Ozmandius

Yes, dashes in the middle of a sentence are entirely appropriate. The rule is as follows:

Use a dash to set off an abrubt break or interruption and to announce a long appositive or summary. A dash is a mark of seperation stronger than a coma, less formal than a colon, and more relaxed than a parenthesis.

Ex 1: His first thought on getting out of bed--if he had any thought at all--was to get back in again.

Ex 2: The rear axle began to make a noise--a grinding, chattering, teeth-gritting rasp.

However, Strunk and White also point out that a dash should be used when a more common mark of punctuation seems inadequate.

P.S. As I was typing this, you're response about the spacing came in. Although Strunk and White do not address this directly, their own examples seem to indicate that no spaces should be used. I have copied them exactly as they appear in the book, so you can take that as a fairly authoritative answer.

Ozmandius

Oops, forgot to mention that the double dash (--) is a stand-in for a single long dash, which is the most grammatically correct. There is a long dash option in Word, but not for this forum.

DawnMorningStar

Thanks, Oz! That was very helpful. I'm glad to see that the way I've been using the dashes seems to be correct. I have a copy of Strunk and White's book here at work that my boss lent me (third edition) so I'll check that out a bit more as well.

Thanks again!

Eiji Tunsinagi

I was never taught to put a comma in front of and (or any other sort of conjunction) I just know its right.

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eleutheromaniac

"and more relaxed than a parenthesis."

This is the only part I'm not sure about. Because dashes are more rare than traditional parenthesis, doesn't it have more emphasis, not less?

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Ozmandius

Must be nice to be born with the rules of grammar incoded into your DNA.

Savannah

My English 101 teacher told us this year that periods are to be used inside quotation marks no matter what the context. I know the periods go inside the quotation marks for dialogue senteces, like this:

He looked at the sky. "I can't see the Milky Way tonight."

But I never thought that periods should always be inside quotations, such as this:

The poem was called "Harlem."

Whenever I put the period outside of sentences that weren't dialogue, he'd mark it wrong. Is this right?

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Savannah

Ozmandius

I couldn't find any specific rules that dealt with this issue, but all the examples seemed to follow this form. In every case--no matter how small the quoted text--the period was inside the quotation mark. So it would seem that your teacher is correct.

eleutheromaniac

We covered that in more detail in the dialogue question thread. I thought that if it was used in the same manner as italics, you put the punctuatioin outside? Does this only apply to periods, or commas, etc. as well?

What about parenthesis, same rule or different?

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Twice

In parentheses, the punctuation is inside if the whole sentence is contained within the parenthesis, but outside if it is not.

Larry took the dog outside (even though it was raining).

Larry the dog outside, even though it was raining. (The dog, however, did not seem to mind.)


Those are both correct. And the best examples I can come up with at 4am.

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