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Nithila Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

purpose of use!

Barack Obama has collected record amounts of donations -- one hundred fifty million dollars last month alone.

here, what is the purpose of using -- above the sentence? does is has any gramatical rule?

or i can chage as

Barack Obama has collected record amounts of donations which is one hundred fifty million dollars last month alone.

does it correct and give same meaning ?
  

Top answer

I'm sure there are many textbook and internet references for the dash. I use it more than I should, but I'm certainly no authority on it. I don't think it's intended for formal use.

— Avangi

  • I'm sure there are many textbook and internet references for the dash.
  • I use it more than I should, but I'm certainly no authority on it.
  • I don't think it's intended for formal use.
  • It's kind of a cheap way of sticking in extra information - something like a pair of parentheses.
  • The information thus set off relates contextually to the rest of the sentence, but not grammatically.
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2 Answers
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I'm sure there are many textbook and internet references for the dash. I use it more than I should, but I'm certainly no authority on it. I don't think it's intended for formal use. It's kind of a cheap way of sticking in extra information - something like a pair of parentheses. The information thus set off relates contextually to the rest of the sentence, but not grammatically.
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I would not change it as you suggest. The dash represents "namely" or "in fact".
Obama has collected record amounts of donations. In fact, he has collected one hundred fifty million dollars last month alone.
CJ
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