

We use the em dash to create a strong break in the structure of a sentence. After a split second of hesitation, the second baseman leaped for the ball (or, rather, limped for it). For instance, em dashes can replace parentheses at the end of a sentence or when multiple commas appear in a parenthetical phrase. Em dashes save the day when other punctuation would be awkward. How do you use dashes in a sentence?Įm Dashes.

The phrase separated by dashes must be grammatically inessential, by which I simply mean that the sentence will still work without that phrase.
