Hello, and welcome to Basic Punctuation! In this video, you’ll learn how to use the hyphen, the
dash, and the slash. They look very similar but have different uses. Let’s learn what they are!
A hyphen is a little horizontal line that is often used to connect words.
The most common use for a hyphen is to connect compound words. You might remember that compound
words are two or more words that, when put together, become a new word with a new meaning.
Some compound words do not use a hyphen, such as "football" or "moonlight." "Foot"
and "ball" are two separate words, but when you put them together, it becomes a compound word.
It’s the same with "moonlight"; "moon" and "light" are two separate words, but if you put them
together, they become a compound word. It means the light that shines down on us from the moon.
But some compound words are connected by a hyphen. Here are some examples: twenty-five, one-half,
merry-go-round. Note that all these words are made up of other words, connected by a hyphen.
Sometimes it’s tricky to know when to use a hyphen within compound words and when not to.
The best way to be sure is to check a dictionary.
A dash looks very similar to the hyphen, only it’s longer. If you type out two consecutive hyphens,
your computer will automatically make it into a dash. The uses are very different, however.
A dash works a lot like a comma: to separate phrases within a sentence.
For example,
"Even though she was smiling, Ellen — the luckiest girl in the world — was actually very sad."
As you can see, there are dashes in this sentence when we pause to explain more about Ellen.
We could have used a comma, but it is sometimes more effective to use a set of dashes,
one right before the pause and one right after, taking us back to the rest of the sentence.
So, how will you know when to use a dash or a comma?
For the most part, use a comma. Only use a dash if you’re confident with using it properly.
If you don’t use it properly, it can make your writing a little difficult to read.
A slash is a forward-slanted line that is often used to mean either "and" or
"or" and sometimes both. For example, “Each guest must bring his/her shoes.”
In this case, the slash means "or": “Each guest must bring his or her shoes.” The guests, who
are either male or female, will bring “his or her” shoes. In this example, “He is a student/athlete,”
the slash means "and." He is both a student and an athlete. “He is a student and an athlete.”
Let’s look at one more! “They love eating cake/fruit.”
Here, the slash means "and/or." They love to eat cake and fruit, or perhaps they like
to eat either cake or the fruit but not both. "Cake or fruit" or "cake and fruit."
And that’s it! You now know the most common uses for the hyphen,
the dash, and the slash. Thanks for watching, and keep practicing what
you’ve learned with our fun games on Always Icecream and Clever Dragons!