Dashes, Parentheses, and Hyphens

Dashes-Key Concepts

Use dashes to indicate an abrupt change of thought

Ex. I cannot believe what the barber did to my beautiful hair—oh, I don’t even want to think about it!

Dashes

Use dashes to set off interrupting ideas dramatically

Ex. Oatmeal--which tastes delicious with honey and raisins—makes a nutritious breakfast when served with milk.

Dashes

Use dashes to set off a summary statement

Summary statements often start with the following words: all, these, this, and that

Ex. Vanilla, rocky road, strawberry, black berry, and butter pecan—deciding which of these flavors to get took me a full five minutes.

Dashes

Use dashes to set off a nonessential appositives due to length

Ex. The ruby-throated hummingbird—a bird that lives in woods, orchards, and gardens but moves to the forests in the winter--eats nectar and small insects.

Dashes

Use dashes with nonessential appositives containing internal punctuation.

Ex. Some of the stores in the mall--for example, The Bathing Beauties Bath Shop--never have any customers.

Dashes

Use dashes with nonessential appositives to show strong emphasis.

Ex. The movies--three box-office blockbusters--were not among our favorites.

Dashes

Use dashes with nonessential modifiers when internal punctuation is used in the sentence.

Ex. The ruby-throated hummingbird—which migrates to Central America for the winter—must build up a layer of body fat equal to half its body weight before migrating.

Dashes

Use dashes with nonessential modifiers when strong emphasis is desired.

Ex. Our new dog’s hopeful expression—which he has mastered so well that even Lassie could take lessons from him—is so appealing that he is slowly winning me over.

Dashes

Tip: Be careful not to overuse dashes and follow the rules for use.

Now let’s practice!

1. The hummingbird’s main source of food nectar is supplemented with small insects and spiders.

Practice with dashes

2. There are actually some flowers at least thirty-one varieties of blossoms that attract the ruby-throated hummingbird.

3. The fantastic agility of the hummingbird a hummingbird beats its wings ninety times per second lets it skip from flower to flower in the same movements an insect uses.

Practice with dashes

4. Flying from flower to flower gathering nectar with its long beak it can hover for long periods of time it pollinates the flowers from which it feeds.

5. Honeysuckle, petunias, nasturtiums, and lilacs all these flowers attract a hummingbird.

Parentheses-Key Concepts

Use parentheses when the material is not essential or when it consists of one or more sentences.

Ex. The diet (seeds, nuts, berries, fruits, flowers, corn, and some insects) of the sulphur-crested cockatoo is especially varied for a bird.

Parentheses

Use parentheses to set off numerical explanations—such as dates of a person’s birth and death—and around numbers and letters marking a series.

Ex. We established a memorial fund for Mary Tsai (1965-1981), which will be used to buy books.

Punctuation rules with Parentheses

When a phrase or declarative sentence interrupts another sentence, do not use an initial capital or end mark inside the parentheses.

Ex. Cockatoos (my sister just bought one) look like parrots.

Punctuation rules with parentheses

When a question or exclamation interrupts another sentence, use both an initial capital and an end mark inside the parentheses.

Ex. Cocky (That bird lived 82 years compared to the normal 50 in captivity!) lived in the London Zoo.

Punctuation with parentheses

With any sentence that falls between two complete sentences, use both an initial capital and an end mark inside the parentheses.

Ex. We drove to the Ashland bird sanctuary. (It took more than fifteen hours.) The quality of the facility surpassed even our high expectations.

Punctuation with parentheses

In a sentence that includes parentheses, place any punctuation belonging to the main sentence after the parentheses.

Also apply this rule for commas, semicolons, colons, and end marks.

Ex. The ocean water felt icy cold (about 45 degrees)!

Practice with parentheses

1.Cockatoos spend the morning and evening looking for food. (Afternoons are spent entertaining themselves by pulling bark and leaves off trees.) They then return to their roosting grounds at nightfall.

2. Its shrill voice heard mostly early in the morning or when it becomes alarmed can be trained to mimic the human voice.

Practice with parentheses

3. Cockatoos that make the best pets are those that are bred in captivity. They are calmer and easier to train. Buying only birds that are captivity-bred also helps protect the birds of the wild.

4.In the North, these birds travel in small ( at least two birds) groups.

Practice with parentheses

5. When buying a cockatoo, be sure to buy a large cage; cockatoos will grow to be over a foot 18-20 inches long.

6. Cockatoos are common in the wild throughout parts of Australia the eastern area and some islands close to the mainland.