Brackets, dashes and hyphens
In a nutshell
Brackets, dashes and hyphens are types of punctuation marks used in sentences. In this summary, you will learn how to use each of them.
Brackets
Brackets can be used to add additional information or an explanation to a sentence to give greater detail, expand an abbreviation or provide a time, date or place. The brackets go around the extra information, but the sentence must make sense without the brackets and extra information.
Example
Without brackets
| With brackets
|
| Chapter six will give you more information about the Solar System. | Chapter six (pages 11−22) will give you more information about the Solar System. |
Dashes
A pair of dashes can be used instead of a pair of brackets to add extra information to a sentence. A single dash can be used in the middle of a sentence to show a sharp break in the flow of words. It can be used to mark a dramatic pause before saying something surprising or exciting.
Examples
Without dashes
| With dashes
|
| The new girl Iliana is very nice. | The new girl Iliana - who just joined our class - is very nice. |
| Cheetahs can run very fast, they are the fastest animal on earth. | Cheetahs can run very fast - they are the fastest animal on earth. |
Brackets and dashes
Brackets and dashes can be used in sentences in a similar way. Brackets are often used in formal writing (such as information books) to suggest a serious tone of voice and provide factual information. Dashes however, are often used in more informal writing to suggest a chatty or snappy way of speaking.
Example
Without punctuation | With brackets | With dashes |
| My friend Zara won the race. | My friend Zara (who was very fast) won the race. | My friend Zara - who was very fast - won the race.
|
Hyphens
Hyphens are used between words to avoid confusion in a sentence. They can be used to show which word is an adjective.
Example
Xavier's fun-loving mum threw him the best birthday party ever.
Hyphens may also be used to connect word parts and can be used for words with prefixes by connecting the prefix to the root word.
Example
The TV show was pre-recorded.
