Extra information

Question

Hi there,How do wegive extra information in a context?I've seen some kinds as: commas,- -,and (). Which of these is correct and seems better?Thank you in advance,Iman

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

If it is extra, use parentheses.

Dave_anon · Answer

Hi

I would say all three of the methods you mention are good. It's a question of style..

If it is the kind of information you just add into a sentence briefly then the commas work..

- I'm trying to explain this, maybe not well, but I hope it helps

If it's a slightly bigger break then the hyphens are good..

- I'm trying to explain this - OK, maybe I'm not doing it too well - but I hope you understand

Here, the hyphens are also useful if you want to put punctuation into the part that you are adding

If something is a completely separate thought then brackets can be used..

- What I'm saying is that the punctuation should follow your natural way of speaking and thinking. (Some teachers would have more formal rules than mine)

Hope this may help, Dave

Imantaghavi · Answer

Thank you very much Mistre Micawber for your time and reply.

Iman

Imantaghavi · Answer

Thank you Dave for the thorough explanation.

Regards,

Iman

Mister Micawber · Answer

However (lest you get confused later, Iman), those are not hyphens—they are m-dashes.  Hyphens appear between parts of words ('lickety-split'), n-dashes appear between ranges ('9–5') and m-dashes set off phrases.

Dave_anon · Answer

Hi

When typing on a word-processor, I have noticed that the auto-correct sometimes lengthens or shortens the dashes - I've never quite been sure why

An excellent - but slightly arcane - piece of information!

I shall be getting my micrometer out to check that EF is doing this properly after this has posted

Thanks, as ever, Mr M

Imantaghavi · Answer

Thank you Mistre Micawber very much.

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