DASHES AND PARENTHESES

The principal function of both dashes and parentheses is to set off or enclose extra material: information having no essential bearing on the rest of the sentence or passage. Grammatically, phrases set off by parentheses or dashes are not part of the main sentence; the sentence will still be complete without them.

To determine where in the sentence the extra information should go, first write the sentence; then find the best place to insert the phrase. If you are using dashes and parentheses correctly, you may leave out the material they set off and you will have a complete, sensible sentence left.

DASHES, which in typescript are formed by two hyphens (--), should be used sparingly; otherwise, the writer's page may resemble the aftermath of an explosion. Note: many word processors can form a true dash (-), known as an m-dash.

Dashes emphasize the extra point the writer is making:

After my argument with Morley--I'll tell you about it later--I went home and tore up his worthless IOU's.

To speak critically, I never received more than one or two letters in my life--I wrote this some years ago--that were worth the postage. (Henry David Thoreau)

Dashes are generally used instead of parentheses to set off a list.

Some of the more obvious qualities in which rats resemble men have been mentioned earlier--ferocity, omnivorousness, and an adaptability to all climates. (Hans Zinsser)

PARENTHESES should be used with restraint, since parenthetical asides (like this one) can interfere with the flow of ideas and the reader's concentration.

Use parentheses when helpful information cannot be introduced conveniently in the main part of the sentence. A complete sentence inside parentheses does not begin with a capital letter unless the parenthetical sentence stands alone, separate from another sentence.

Put commas and periods outside parenthetical groups of words (like this one), even if the groups could stand alone as a sentence (see the Mark Twain and Jane Austen sentence below). (But if you make a full sentence parenthetical, like this one, put the period inside.)

For definition:

In some stories we are chiefly interested in plot (the arrangement of happenings or doings); in others we are more interested in character (the personalities of the doers); but usually the two are so intertwined that interest in one involves interest in the other.

For dates:

William Faulkner (1897-1962) narrates his novel As I Lay Dying (1932) from sixteen first-person points of view!

For extra information:

Mark Twain (he was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens), strangely enough, despised the work of Jane Austen, whose appreciation of irony matched his own.

DASHES AND PARENTHESES—EXERCISE

YOUR NAME:
YOUR EMAIL:
TODAY'S DATE:

 

In each sentence below, insert dashes or parentheses where appropriate. Remember that you should still have a complete sentence when you take out what you have set off with dashes or parentheses.

1. Cooking with a wok a metal pan with a curved bottom which is used for frying and steaming is a fast and healthy way to prepare a meal.

2. Emily Dickinson a reclusive New England poet punctuated both her poems and her letters almost exclusively with dashes.

3. George Bush US President and Gorbachev USSR President will be remembered for their roles in the '90s.

4. My favorite flowers roses, carnations, Peruvian lilies, calendulas, and mums are available at the Friendly Flower Stand.

5. By the time my vacation in Hawaii was over I wish I were still there I was completely relaxed.

6. Three paintings by Georgia O'Keeffe are on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York: Blue Lines 1916, Black Iris 1926, and White Canadian Barn II 1932.

Write four sentences in which you insert the following by using dashes or parentheses. Remember to write a complete sentence first; then insert the extra information, setting it off with dashes or parentheses.

1. her friends called her Mouse

2. a perfectionist if I ever saw one

3. kind, trusting, and friendly

4. 1862-1916

 

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