Hyphens, Dashes, & Parentheses

Chapter 11

Here’s the idea…

Hyphens, dashes, and parentheses help make your writing clear by

separating or setting off words or parts of words.

Hyphens

Use a hyphen if part of a word must be carried over from one line to the next. • The word must have at least two syllables to

be broken.

Correct: num-berIncorrect: co-de

For example

Ms. Walsh was extremely hap-py when her friends came to visit Chicago.

Hyphens

• Always separate words between syllables

Correct: let-terIncorrect: lette-r

Hyphens

• You must leave at least two letters on each line

Correct: twen-tyIncorrect: a-cross

Hyphens

• Use hyphens in certain compound words.

Examples:

half-dollargreat-grandmother

Hyphens

• Use hyphens in compound numbers from twenty-one (21) through ninety-nine (99)

Examples:

sixty-threetwenty-six

Hyphens

• Use hyphens in spelled-out fractions

Examples:

two-thirdsthree-fourths

Let’s Practice!

When I take my cousins to the carnival, they love to go on the merry go round.

My brother is thirty five years old.

When I make oatmeal for breakfast, I have to include one fourth cup of

boiling water.

My great grandmother was named Ottilia.

Last winter was terrible; it was extremely cold outside.

My dad gets along well with my grandmother; his mother in law.

Mrs. Lilly had a busy summe-r planning for her wedding.

Next year, my brother will turn twenty one.

The cookie recipe called for two-thirds of a cup of sugar.

Dashes

Use dashes to show an abrupt break in thought.

Example:

Louis Braille –who lost his sight at age three- invented an alphabet for blind people.

Dashes

Another example:

Ms. Walsh - who fell and broke her arm at age 10- is deathly afraid of bunk beds.

Parentheses

Use parentheses to set off material that is loosely related to the rest of a sentence.

Example:

Each six-dot cell stands for a character (a letter of the alphabet, a number, a punctuation mark, or a contraction).

Parentheses

Another example:

Mr. Agnew ate a pear (a yellow colored fruit) at lunch today.

Let’s Practice!

Decide: Should you use dashes or parentheses?

My favorite holiday is Halloween ___ Kit Kats are my favorite candy.

My mom grew up on a farm __ she likes to tell stories about her childhood __where they raised

cattle and grew crops.

It’s fun to run a marathon __ which is 26.2 miles in length __ as long as you have trained properly.