Colons, semicolons, and dashes
In most cases, colons, dashes, and semicolons should be placed outside of quotation marks. The one exception occurs when the colon, semicolon, or dash is a part of the sentence you are quoting.
- He leafed through his mail looking for anything marked “personal”; then he ignored the rest.
- She always gave the same advice: “Don’t give up too soon.”
- “Now”—he pointed to the door—“it’s time for you to leave.”
NOTE: While many use the term dash and hyphen interchangeably, they are really two different marks. A dash is longer than the hyphen and is used to show a range or a pause.
A hyphen is a punctuation mark that's used to join words or parts of words.
Dash and Hyphen are not interchangeable in writing.
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AndyN1
Premium
Hi Diane
I use Grammarly and I find it very helpful. As you say you have to check and not always accept the proposed change. One that I find it often gets wrong - for my eyes anyway - it always wants to turn "may" and "be" into "maybe". Obvious examples would be
Maybe we will come tomorrow - I think that is correct.
but
We may be coming tomorrow. - I think is also correct.
I find it also has trouble when you try to use subjunctive forms. Or maybe I shouldn't be using the subjunctive case at all.
Like you, I find really bad grammar and punctuation to be distracting after a while. Reading aloud is also a good way to catch sloppy writing.
A great lesson!
Thanks
Andy
I use Grammarly and I find it very helpful. As you say you have to check and not always accept the proposed change. One that I find it often gets wrong - for my eyes anyway - it always wants to turn "may" and "be" into "maybe". Obvious examples would be
Maybe we will come tomorrow - I think that is correct.
but
We may be coming tomorrow. - I think is also correct.
I find it also has trouble when you try to use subjunctive forms. Or maybe I shouldn't be using the subjunctive case at all.
Like you, I find really bad grammar and punctuation to be distracting after a while. Reading aloud is also a good way to catch sloppy writing.
A great lesson!
Thanks
Andy
Dhind1
Premium Plus
This is excellent, thank you for taking the time to put this together.
I really appreciate anything that will help to improve my grammar skills. I am a native speaker and I know that any help is good for me.
I have spent almost 30 years overseas where I have listened to shortened versions of English as my friends and co-workers struggle to "talk" to me.
I appreciate their efforts as I am sure they appreciate my efforts to communicate in their language. But, over time basic skills become eroded, so a refresher is always welcome.
Alex
I really appreciate anything that will help to improve my grammar skills. I am a native speaker and I know that any help is good for me.
I have spent almost 30 years overseas where I have listened to shortened versions of English as my friends and co-workers struggle to "talk" to me.
I appreciate their efforts as I am sure they appreciate my efforts to communicate in their language. But, over time basic skills become eroded, so a refresher is always welcome.
Alex