The Colon, Hyphen, Dash, and Semicolon

Downloadable version (Microsoft Word document)

 

The Colon

The colon signals the reader to anticipate what follows, usually an explanation or a list. Remember, the clause preceding the colon must always be a complete sentence.

Examples: Doug was faced with an impossible choice: Should he date Mary or Sue?
Perhaps Jesus’s most profound doctrine was spoken at the last supper: “Love one another.”
There are three rules for good writing: clarity, clarity, and clarity.

Clauses that end in as follows or the following are good examples of when a colon should be used; however, the phrase such as is not followed by a colon because it is not part of a complete sentence.

Incorrect: At the store I bought lots of stuff, such as: cheese, bread, milk, honey, and nail clippers.
Correct: At the store I bought lots of stuff, such as cheese, bread, milk, honey, and nail clippers.
Correct: At the store I bought the following: cheese, bread, milk, honey, and nail clippers.

Note: For more information on using a colon, see the handout Punctuating a Series.

 

The Semicolon

The semicolon takes the place of a period when joining two closely-related independent clauses with no coordinating conjunction (and, but, or, yet).

Example: She was beginning to get better; she had stopped fainting the day before.

A semicolon also links two independent clauses when the second clause begins with a conjunctive adverb. (For a list of conjunctive adverbs see the handout Comma Splices and Fused Sentences).

Example: The status of women has been improving in Latin America; unfortunately, progress has been slow.

Semicolons separate items in a list that have internal punctuation.

Example: The custody case involved Mary Penople, the child; Diane Brown, the natural mother; and George and Nadia Penople, the adoptive parents.

Semicolons join two independent clauses connected by a coordinating conjunction if the clauses contain internal punctuation.

Example: He hated chili, stew, and baked beans; but somehow he loved beef jerky.

Note: For more information on using the semicolon, see the handouts Punctuating a Series and Comma Splices and Fused Sentences.

 

The Hyphen

The hyphen is a short vertical line that is used in some compound words and is also used to connect prefixes and suffixes to main words.

Example: Twenty-four
mother-in-law
pro-American
pre-law

Note: Not all compounds are hyphenated (bathroom, dragonfly, jet plane, log cabin, etc.), nor are all prefixes and suffixes (coworker, postmodern, etc.). When you are unsure whether or not a compound word needs a hyphen, check a reliable dictionary such as, The Oxford English Dictionary, Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, or The American Heritage Dictionary.

 

The Dash

En dash

The en dash is longer than the hyphen and is used with number ranges or after a number to indicate a continuing process. Remember, there is no space between the en dash and the number it follows or the number it precedes.

Example: 1998–2000
pages 12–43
Dallas beat Washington 14–10
Mary Johnson (1984–)

The en dash can also be used in a compound adjective where one or more of the words involved is an open or hyphenated compound. The en dash hyphenates the compound words.

Example: a twenty-one–letter word
the New York–Paris flight
the post–World War II years

Note: In Microsoft Word, an en dash can be made by pressing Ctrl+Num- (Control and the minus sign on the number pad). On a Mac, press Alt+Hyphen.

Em dash

The em dash is the longest vertical line of punctuation. Its main use is to indicate an abrupt shift in emphasis or direction from the main sentence. Just like en dash, there is no space between the em dash and the words that it separates.

Example: Eating broccoli hasn’t killed anyone—yet.
A strong father figure in the home is essential—especially for opening jars.

The em dash is also used to set off parenthetical material (interjectory information—often an explanation or extra commentary), much like a pair of parentheses or commas.

Examples: The greatest modernist writers—Eliot, Joyce, Woolf—were all very well-educated.
Jorge Luis Borges—who some have called “the greatest writer in the Spanish language”—published his first book of short stories in London.

The em dash can set off an introductory subject (or series of subjects) from the pronoun that is part of the main clause.

Example: Eating, drinking, and sleeping—such was all that dog was good for.
Heaven—that was his ultimate goal.

Note: In Microsoft Word, an em dash can be created by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Num- (Control, Alt, and the minus key on the number pad). On a Mac, press Alt+Shift+Hyphen. Also, For more information on using the em dash, see the handout Punctuating Parenthetical Word Groups.

James Gunter, summer 2005
Based on a handout by Susan Clapson, March 1993
Revised by Marry Sneddon, spring 1999