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There is a little-known dash rule that is called the "summary dash." It is used when a sentence has concluded and a clause refers back to the subject of that sentence. The clause is really an appos...

If a question is dropped inside a statement or question, put a pair of dashes around it and a question mark after it. ...He was standing near -- were you aware of him at the time? -- the desk of t...

We see this same pattern often: We have finished a sentence; then we throw in something that renames the subject of that sentence. ...We decided to spend the weekend away -- my husband and I....Th...

Do not cap a word after a dash unless it always has to be capped. ...He was on his way to -- to visit her in the hospital. ...She helped him to -- helped her to the couch after she fell. When the...

When elements that have commas around them also have commas within them, the commas around them change to dashes. ...If it has misspellings -- whether they be medications, medical terms, or names ...

Rather than thinking of the dash as being used for an "interruption," it will serve you better to frame that rule as "A dash is used for a sentence that got started and did not get finished -- brok...

Most reporters use the dash simply for that ever-present interruption. There are, however, grammar rules associated with the dash. Here's one: When an indefinite pronoun follows ONE word and rena...

Just the basic rules for the dash. It is the third one that many people don't always remember. There are three basic reasons to use a dash:1. broken sentence structure (This is where the interrupt...

This is a sentence I was asked about on Facebook. And I have it correctly punctuated here. Have there been any major stressful events in the last year that you can think of -- divorce? someone, a ...