I have seen the compound words “en dash” and “em dash” sometimes appear with a hyphen (“en-dash”) and sometimes without. Are both the hyphenated and the unhyphenated forms correct? Answer There is no unanimity on the proper form of this term—at least not among U.S. authorities. Merriam-Webster’s Eleventh Collegiate Dictionary (2003) doesn’t include entries for … Read more
One common use of em dashes is to offset parenthetical phrases. But if a comma outside the parenthetical phrase immediately follows the parenthetical, what do you do with the comma? I realize that that explanation is a little long-winded and confusing, so here’s an example of a sentence that I’m unsure about (should there be … Read more
How should I dictate hyphen in email address or url over the phone ? My email is gabriel hyphen glenn at gmail dot com My email is gabriel dash glenn at gmail dot com Answer The short answer is: it doesn’t matter. The listener will probably type the same thing in either case. But what’s … Read more
Could someone please tell me if I’ve correctly punctuated the following sentence (specifically, if I’ve correctly used the dash and commas highlighted bloew)? Also, is the period at the end of the word “voice” better served by a comma or semicolon? My partner and I had been patrolling the Rideau Canal Skateway—a nearly 8 km … Read more
In statistics, the t-distribution is important. It is an approximation to the normal distribution. Of course we don’t say “normal-distribution” (with the dash). Well then, what exactly is the grammatical justification for calling it t-distribution as opposed to just t distribution ? Or to put it another way, is there a good name for the … Read more
Is the hyphen that we often see in words such as “non-zero”, “non-trivial”, etc. optional? In case the answer is negative, is there any rule of thumb on which one may rely in order to recall when it is OK to leave it out? Thanks in advance for your knowledgeable replies. Answer To record and … Read more
I have looked up online and studied usages for the hyphen, en dash, and em dash. I still haven’t found an answer if I can define words with a dash in English. The backstory on dashes defining vocabularies I am bilingual in Russian and English. Back then when I was in a Russian school, we … Read more
Due to financial struggles brought on by marital struggles—or perhaps it was the other way around—, the family had to forsake it as the bank foreclosed on it. I normally wouldn’t place a comma, but had the statement between the dashes been missing like so— Due to financial struggles brought on by marital struggles,the family … Read more
Moth-like, the people buzzed about: walking, driving, directing— each to their own light. I’m not sure whether each comma, colon, dash and hyphen are used correctly here. Please help! Also, this is my first question here (or at least, I think so— I have the memory of a goldfish with Alzheimer’s) so please be gentle! … Read more
The designer envisions the game’s fundamental elements: the settings, characters, and plots that make each game unique, and is thus a primary creative force behind a video game. A) NO CHANGE B) elements: the settings, characters, and plots that make each game unique— C) elements—the settings, characters, and plots that make each game unique— D) … Read more
