Spaces with em-dashes

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marta baglioni
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Spaces with em-dashes

Post by marta baglioni »

Hello!
I am writing a review, and I am unsure if I should count this as an error: em-dashes (or long dashes) should have no spaces before or after, according to the Oxford Dictionary, but looking it up online I did find some discordant opinions about it. What do you think?
I would be sorry to mark as an error something that it is not.
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MsH2k
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Post by MsH2k »

marba wrote: 20 Oct 2021, 08:52 Hello!
I am writing a review, and I am unsure if I should count this as an error: em-dashes (or long dashes) should have no spaces before or after, according to the Oxford Dictionary, but looking it up online I did find some discordant opinions about it. What do you think?
I would be sorry to mark as an error something that it is not.
Hi!
You're right that most style guides recommend having no spaces before or after an em dash; however, the AP style allows for a space on either side. This link discusses it further: https://www.thepunctuationguide.com/em-dash.html.

Since OBC does not enforce a specific style guide (for books or reviews), this should not be marked as an error.
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marta baglioni
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Post by marta baglioni »

MsH2k wrote: 20 Oct 2021, 12:46
marba wrote: 20 Oct 2021, 08:52 Hello!
I am writing a review, and I am unsure if I should count this as an error: em-dashes (or long dashes) should have no spaces before or after, according to the Oxford Dictionary, but looking it up online I did find some discordant opinions about it. What do you think?
I would be sorry to mark as an error something that it is not.
Hi!
You're right that most style guides recommend having no spaces before or after an em dash; however, the AP style allows for a space on either side. This link discusses it further: https://www.thepunctuationguide.com/em-dash.html.

Since OBC does not enforce a specific style guide (for books or reviews), this should not be marked as an error.

Thank you so much for your reply! It was really helpful :tiphat:
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Post by DrOshA »

Excuse me, but do you know how I can create an em dash? I don't see it on my keyboard. I thought the hyphen turns into one when I leave a space before it - but no. I just got dinged on a review because my em dashes came out as hyphens.
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Post by shravsi »

Oshuare Aregbeyen wrote: 11 Dec 2021, 16:38 Excuse me, but do you know how I can create an em dash? I don't see it on my keyboard. I thought the hyphen turns into one when I leave a space before it - but no. I just got dinged on a review because my em dashes came out as hyphens.
Are you using windows or Mac? Shortcuts are different for both.
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Post by Bradley Shelvie »

Oshuare Aregbeyen wrote: 11 Dec 2021, 16:38 Excuse me, but do you know how I can create an em dash? I don't see it on my keyboard. I thought the hyphen turns into one when I leave a space before it - but no. I just got dinged on a review because my em dashes came out as hyphens.
If you are using an phone, long-pressing the hyphen should bring both the em and en-dashes.
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Post by DrOshA »

Are you using windows or Mac? Shortcuts are different for both.
Windows.
Last edited by DrOshA on 08 Jan 2022, 02:38, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by DrOshA »

If you are using an phone, long-pressing the hyphen should bring both the em and en-dashes.
People do these things on their phones?! :shock2:
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Post by DrOshA »

shravsi wrote: 23 Dec 2021, 23:58 This might help: https//www.techtoolsforwriters/how-to-create-an-em-dash/
Thanks Shravsi! That really did help a lot. :D
I think I can easily create an em dash in a Word doc now, just apparently not directly in the OBC review forms.
Thank you very much.
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Post by Charlize Venter »

marba wrote: 20 Oct 2021, 08:52 Hello!
I am writing a review, and I am unsure if I should count this as an error: em-dashes (or long dashes) should have no spaces before or after, according to the Oxford Dictionary, but looking it up online I did find some discordant opinions about it. What do you think?
I would be sorry to mark as an error something that it is not.
Trust the Oxford Dictionary 8)
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Post by Helen Akoth »

marba wrote: 20 Oct 2021, 08:52 Hello!
I am writing a review, and I am unsure if I should count this as an error: em-dashes (or long dashes) should have no spaces before or after, according to the Oxford Dictionary, but looking it up online I did find some discordant opinions about it. What do you think?
I would be sorry to mark as an error something that it is not.
Hi! It is a common practice to not leave spaces before or after em-dashes. On the other hand, with the en-dashes (short dashes), spaces are usually recommended. It is more to do with aesthetics than grammar. When you use an en-dash and fail to leave spaces before or after it, the sentence usually looks jammed up, unlike with an em-dash which is slightly longer.
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Post by Samuel Mamo »

You raise important issue . Thank you.
It is something that confuses me.
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