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Vbutterfly Posted 11 years ago
Grammar

em dash and a question mark

Hello everyone,

I am not the best writer and I'm a bit confused here. I wanted to use an em dash for emphasis but it is a question as well! I'm not sure if I put the question mark in the right place and if doing so changes what I wanted to get across. Did I punctuate the sentence bellow correctly?

What would be more gratifying than being able to help a child in what Vygotsky considered one of man’s greatest tools?— Language.

Thank you in advance for anyone who is willing to help me out =)
  

Top answer

The question mark needs to go after Language.

— Fivejedjon

  • The question mark needs to go after Language.
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6 Answers
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The question mark needs to go after Language.
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Let me confess that I dislike em-dashes, and avoid them.
I would write it thus.
eg What would be more gratifying than being able to help a child in the use of what Vygotsky considered one of man’s greatest tools? Language!

I'm s
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This was what was suggested on the Word document as well. However, since the word language is separate and almost stands alone, it feels weird....almost like I'm questioning language. It does seem better though as it doesn't interrupt the flow of the sentence. So it should be:

What would be more gratifying than being able to help a child in what Vygotsky considered one of man’s great
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I love how it sounds with (in the use of) added to it. I never would have caught that. This is a very important sentence for me as it is the opener to my personal statement for grad school.

Let me confess that I never knew what an em-dash was before writing my paper. ::blush::

Now I can’t decide which one sounds better. The exclamation point does stand out, which is a good t
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VPbutterflySo I have to decide:What would be more gratifying than being able to help a child in the use of what Vygotsky considered one of man’s greatest tools? Language!Or What would be more gratifying than being able to help a child in the use of what Vygotsky considered one of man’s greatest tools – language?
It's your decision. Clive and I have given our o
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Good point fivejedjon, I thank you both!
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