At EME, one of the problems that our editors encounter rather frequently in all genres of writing is confusion over the use of hyphens vis-à-vis dashes. I’d venture a guess that most writers aren’t even aware that there is a distinction between these two kinds of punctuation marks, so it’s a mistake we find ourselves correcting quite often. And if that distinction doesn’t cause enough confusion by itself, there’s also a further distinction that has to be made—between two kinds of dashes: the em-dash and the en-dash. (Minus signs, negative signs, figure dashes, 2-em dashes, and 3-em dashes all complicate the matter further, but they are of lesser importance and will be mentioned briefly, below). Since the uses of the hyphen, the en-dash, and the em-dash are clearly distinguishable, my hope is to clear up some of the confusion here.

 

Hyphens [-]

The hyphen really has three main uses:

• To separate digits (and letters) in telephone numbers, Social Security Numbers, etc. (although this can also be done by the figure dash, discussed later in this article)
• To separate syllables (usually when space requires splitting a word at the end of a line of type)
• To join two or more words together into a compound

 

With regard to this latter category of uses for the hyphen, it is worth noting that the current trend is toward non-hyphenation (i.e., closed compounds) wherever possible. The Chicago Manual of Style, 15^th edition, §7.90 provides an extensive hyphenation guide; so does the APA Manual, 5^th edition, §3.11; and so does the OWL at Purdue University. Because of evolutions in usage, a current dictionary often provides the best guide for deciding when compounds should be hyphenated, when they should be written as separate words (i.e., open compounds), and when they should be written as one word (i.e., closed compounds).

 

SOME EXAMPLES OF HYPHENATED COMPOUNDS:

one-on-one coaching

seventh-grade class

low-resolution photograph

 

 

En-dashes [–]

Longer than a hyphen but shorter than an em-dash, the en-dash is used principally in two ways:

• In place of the word “to,” such as with ranges of dates and page numbers

 

EXAMPLES:

1962–1965

pages 12–16

Genesis 1:1–2:4a

the London–Brussels train

 

• To join words of equal weight (i.e., where one does not modify the other) in a compound adjective

 

EXAMPLES:

medical–surgical procedure

the Mason–Dixon line

the New York–New Jersey border

a quasi-legislative–quasi-political decision

 

Although there are style sheets that direct the use of spaces before and after the en-dash, typically there are no spaces surrounding the en-dash; this allows the en-dash to be easily distinguishable from the minus sign.

 

 

Em-dashes [—]

There are a number of uses for the em-dash, but ordinarily it represents a break in thought. Like commas and parentheses, em-dashes can be used to set off a word or phrase. There is, however, an important difference: while commas and parentheses de-emphasize the material they enclose, em-dashes emphasize the material they enclose. The em-dash may also be used to separate a subject (or set of subjects) from a pronoun, or to indicate a sudden break, an aside, or an explanatory phrase.

 

EXAMPLES:

The way that Lisa understood it—if, indeed, she understood it at all—it was a good thing.

And that was to be the end of it—for the moment.

 

Be careful, however: overuse of em-dashes becomes very tedious for the reader. This is true, in part, because they involve breaks in thought; too many of them gives the reader a sense of literary hiccups as he or she tries to plough through the sentence, perhaps even losing track of what the original subject was. In part, the tediousness of overused dashes comes from the emphasis that they convey. Overemphasis functions much like using a highlighter in a book to highlight every word on the page: when everything is highlighted, nothing stands out. The em-dash is an effective tool, but should be used sparingly.

 

As with en-dashes, there are some style guides that suggest using spaces before and after the em-dash, but typically the em-dash is typed with no spaces before or after it (as in the examples given above).

 

 

Minus signs, negative signs, figure dashes, 2-em dashes, and 3-em dashes.

Beyond hyphens, en-dashes, and em-dashes, there are related marks that occur in limited circumstances and appear less frequently. Without getting into much detail, they are presented here for the sake of completeness:

• Minus signs are typically used in equations, and are most often typed as a hyphen with a space before it and a space after it (e.g., 3 - 2 = 1). Word processing software may provide a slightly raised symbol for this purpose as well.
• Negative signs also occur principally in equations and are typed as a hyphen with a space before the negative sign but not after it (e.g., -3 + 3 = 0).
• Figure dashes are sometimes used in place of a hyphen between digits in numbers and codes like Social Security Numbers and telephone numbers.
• 2-em dashes are used to indicate missing material, such as a redacted name or an expletive (e.g., Mrs. —— and Dr. —— were both opposed to the measure.). Many word processing programs merge the two em-dashes in this symbol so that it appears with no breaks.
• 3-em dashes are used in bibliographies and reference lists to indicate that the author name is the same as in the previous entry (e.g., ———. Angels & Demons. New York: Washington Square Press, 2000). Many word processing programs merge the three em-dashes in this symbol so that it appears with no breaks.

Have questions or thoughts about this topic? Leave us a COMMENT.

ALBERT—Read more about this editor

Is it “red, white, and blue,” or is it “red, white and blue”?

 

Most professional writers will tell you that’s a matter of style. And they’re right. You may choose to place a comma after the next-to-last element in a series (hence the name serial comma) or you may choose to leave it out; neither practice is wrong. What you shouldn’t do is use the serial comma haphazardly or allow your choice to give rise to confusion in your text.

 

Even if you choose, as a rule, to avoid the serial comma, there may be instances in which it must still be used. Consider, for instance,

 

John, a teacher and a lawyer

 

Does this refer to three people (i.e., John and a teacher and a lawyer)? Or is it one person (i.e., John, who is both a teacher and a lawyer)? If the former, the serial comma would make that clear:

 

John, a teacher, and a lawyer

 

The serial comma’s use is commonplace in American English usage, though less common in English of the British variety.

 

Since, in our editing, we try to bring consistency to the use (or nonuse) of the serial comma to the extent possible without causing confusion, I often get asked about the pros and cons of its use. The biggest advantage to the use of the serial comma is clarity: when all of the elements in a series are separated by commas, there is less chance of ambiguity in the list. For example, if I am listing the kinds of sandwiches I’m making for lunch, only the serial comma ensures that it’s clear what I’m actually serving. Consider:

 

Ham, peanut butter and banana and jelly

 

Without the serial comma, this may mean:

• Ham
• Peanut butter and banana
• Jelly

 

Or it may mean:

• Ham
• Peanut butter
• Banana and jelly

 

In fact, though I wouldn’t want to try it, without the serial comma it could even mean just two kinds of sandwiches:

• Ham, peanut butter, and banana
• Jelly

 

With the serial comma, the ambiguity is removed:

 

Ham, peanut butter and banana, and jelly

 

The strongest reason for ordinarily omitting the serial comma is to conserve space. In fact, it is from the world of newspaper writing that the practice seems to have taken its root in the United States. Among others, the practice of avoiding the serial comma is advocated by the Associated Press Stylebook and the New York Times, along with a number of leading British and Australian stylebooks. In favor of using the serial comma are, among others, the Chicago Manual of Style, the APA Manual, the AMA Manual of Style, the U.S. Government Printing Office, and Strunk & White’s The Elements of Style.

 

All things being equal, I’m inclined to recommend the serial comma’s use. However, rest assured that—as long as your intended meaning is clear—neither its use nor its nonuse is wrong.

Have thoughts or questions about this topic? Leave us a COMMENT to share.

ALBERT—Read more about this editor

People form impressions of us based on the language we use, whether written or spoken. Our language choices tell people where we are from, whether we are educated or not, or professional business people or not. This is a universal truth with all languages, not only English.

In our last ESL blog, we talked about “Correct English” and how there are some people (Descriptivists) who believe in the educated speaker rule—namely, if an educated native speaker says it, that reflects Standard Language Usage. Others (Prescriptivists) believe that language should be spoken according to a set of rules (generally from Latin or Greek), regardless of how the current language actually functions.

There is yet another set of rules, and that is the way the language actually works. These are rules that native speakers of any language internalize as they acquire their language from childhood. In English, for example we say, She likes bananas. Most native speakers haven’t analyzed that and they cannot state the rule of the “3^rd person s” (likes) in simple, active declarative sentences. However, they know it and they use it. Non-native speakers haven’t internalized these rules and they need to learn them, either for social reasons or professional business reasons.

We can easily hear an accent in spoken English. Accents usually reflect pronunciation, but they can also reflect non-English word order, or non-English word formations. People are generally more forgiving about these issues in spoken English. However, in written English, especially in Academic English or in Business English, these issues become more of a problem.

In written form, non-native English is more easily seen. Sometimes we can identify a person’s native language by the types of errors he or she makes.

Russians and Slovaks, for example, tend to leave off the article before nouns. (I like show. We go to movies.).

Spanish speakers will tend to write or say I have cold instead of I am cold. Or I have 23 years instead of I am 23 years old. This is because in Spanish, the verb tener (to have) is used in these instances, rather than the verb, to be, as we use it in English.

Sometimes an English word is similar to a word in another language, but it really is not the same. For example, the English word embarrassed seems like the Spanish word embarazada, which actually means pregnant. It is no wonder that Spanish speakers will confuse the two, both in meaning and spelling. That woud be fairly embarrassing!

Sometimes certain errors are universal. By this I mean that, because English is unique in one or more aspects, non-native speakers from various language backgrounds will falter and show their accents in written English.

 

Third person s:  He like cars, instead of He likes cars.

Word order and third person s:   She fight all the time her brother, instead of She fights her brother all the time.

Plural nouns: They have two dog, iInstead of They have two dogs.

 

The above are only a few examples of accent in written English. There are many more. Usually, the correct forms can be learned in a course or from a book. Often, being aware of the native-speaker rules, will help.

So, what can you do? Check yourself on the above structures, or have someone edit your writing for you. Do you make these types of errors? Record yourself talking about a situation or a person. Then write the same story as a paragraph. Do you notice any differences?

Do you notice any of the problems we just illustrated above? If you do, just practice writing a few sentences using the native-speaker models above for these. The first step is being aware of how you speak and write.

 

Have some experience with this topic? Or perhaps a question? Leave us a COMMENT to share your thoughts.

MARILYN—Read more about this editor

What is correct English? Is it the English spoken on TV?  Is it a dialect of English, such as British English or American English?  Could it be a variety within American English, such as Mid-Western English or Southern English?

Is correct English what the grammar books tell us to say or write? Should written English be more correct than spoken English?

The answers to these questions may be “Yes” or “All of the above.” It really depends on who is asking the question and who is giving the answer.

People look at language in different ways. Linguists (like myself) are people who deal with the science of language and language change. Most linguists are Descriptivists who describe what is said in the language. Descriptivists don’t judge how the language (in our case, English) should be spoken. They just analyze and observe how it is being used. Descriptivists don’t judge any variety or dialect of English. They think that American English is just as good or correct as British English and that Mid-Western English is not any better or worse than Southern English.

Prescriptivists, on the other hand, argue that there are certain rules of the English language (many handed down from Latin and Greek) and these rules must be followed. Prescriptivists are often grade-school English teachers, sometimes grammar book writers, or others who believe that the language must not change.

 

Let’s look at some examples and how Descriptivists and Prescriptivists would react to them.

 

Example:                                          

1.  She thinks different from me.

     Drive slow.

     Speak clear.                      

Prescriptivists would say that the use of an adjective  instead of the adverb (differently, slowly, clearly) in the examples above is totally incorrect. It should be: She thinks differently from me; Drive slowly; Speak clearly.

Descriptivists might mourn the increasing loss of the adverb in American English, but would describe the above examples as an inevitable product of language change.

 

2. Give it to Joe and I.

    Sally is against you and I

    It’s between John and I

Prescriptivists would say that we should use the objective case of the pronoun here (me, instead of I ) because only objective case pronouns should be used after prepositions (to, against, between).

Descriptivists would say that the use of the subject pronoun (I ) is a case of hypercorrection. Because we have generally used John and I in the subject position in a sentence,   (John and I are leaving now), it has come into use even when the phrase occurs after a preposition (It’s between John and I).

 

So who decides what is correct?  What should the student of English as a second language do?  As a textbook writer of many books in English for foreign students, as well as a university professor and teacher-trainer, here is my advice:

If possible, learn the rule as stated in the grammar books, but be aware that you will probably hear an alternate expression in spoken English. In written English, try to follow the prescriptive rule.

For example,  the polite request, May I have a drink, please?  will often be heard as Can I have a drink?  The question Whom did you bring? illustrates the prescriptive rule of using the objective form whom, but we rarely use that in spoken English. We are told to use It’s  I  in response to the question, Who is it?, but we would sound very archaic if we followed that rule, instead of just saying It’s me.    

The English language is changing constantly. We are judged on how we speak the language and how we write it. Generally, I tell my students that Standard Spoken American English is that variety heard on national television in broadcasters’ speech. I think this is a good rule of thumb for educated usage. So, for example, if they hear between you and I in the speech of educated people, it probably means the language is changing and that is becoming acceptable in Standard Spoken American English.

However, in written English, the criteria for acceptability are more formal and closer to the rules of the prescriptivist. In written English, especially in Business English, you should use the more formal expressions.

So here’s a parting piece of advice for written English: When in doubt, follow the rule. In spoken English, follow your ear.

Do you struggle with issues of English grammar and usage? Have some experiences you’d like to share? Or perhaps a question for our ESL expert? Leave us a COMMENT.

MARILYN—Read more about this editor