Dashes, parentheses or commas?
When to use dashes, parentheses and commas
We all insert extra information in sentences at times with dashes, parentheses (also known as brackets) or commas. Sometimes it’s just irresistible to include that additional information that we hope will make our meaning clearer or provide context.
But does the extra information make our writing harder to read?
Yes and no. If the extra information interrupts the flow of the writing, then it is a problem. If you’ve just inserted a brief aside, such as a date or dollar amount, then the sentence will probably still flow well.
Long phrases tend to be more problematic than short ones. Take this example:
‘It was the designs for Stanley Kubrick’s Dr Strangelove (1964) – where the War Room set in particular has been copied by architects worldwide – that lifted Ken Adam, production designer, to legendary status.’
Sydney Morning Herald, 22 March 2016
I had to re-read this sentence and found it easier to read once I mentally removed the information between the dashes. The sentence then became:
‘It was the designs for Stanley Kubrick’s Dr Strangelove (1964) that lifted Ken Adam, production designer, to legendary status.’
An additional sentence could have said:
‘The War Room set, in particular, has been copied by architects worldwide.’
Would it make any difference if the writer used commas or parentheses? I don’t think so – the sentence would still be clumsy.
Of course, adding extra information often works. What do you think of these examples from The Sydney Morning Herald (5 April 2016)?
‘There are days when you skip the almond milk latte and dive straight into the cheesecake, possibly even for breakfast (OK, that might just be me).’
‘Beyond the headline youth unemployment figure, which has remained stubbornly high for more than a decade, work is becoming less secure and finding enough of it is a growing challenge.’
‘Builder Fred [Fouad] Deiri claims he was “gobsmacked” when he found out – courtesy of The Australian Financial Review – that he had a company in the British Virgin Islands.’
Formality of your writing helps determine your choice
Your choice of dashes, parentheses or commas will be determined partly by the level of formality of your writing.
Commas are more formal than dashes or parentheses. They are also less intrusive.
The power failures, which affected 60{59910f22c4b8b7fb83f8b3fd8107c48ae8d88d19cbd345b9801bf252f54d31e2} of houses in eastern suburbs, were fixed within 24 hours.
Dashes are less formal than commas or parentheses. We use dashes a lot in emails, but I wouldn’t expect to see them in a board paper or formal report. The language with dashes may also be less formal.
The power failures – 60{59910f22c4b8b7fb83f8b3fd8107c48ae8d88d19cbd345b9801bf252f54d31e2} of houses hit in eastern suburbs – were fixed within 24 hours.
Parentheses are most useful to include short asides or background information such as dates, percentages and financial information. The information within the parentheses can also be in note form.
The power failures (60{59910f22c4b8b7fb83f8b3fd8107c48ae8d88d19cbd345b9801bf252f54d31e2} affected in eastern suburbs) were fixed within 24 hours.
If in doubt about the extra information, read the sentence without it.
The power failures were fixed within 24 hours.
Then see if the extra information should be:
- Deleted entirely
- Inserted with brackets, dashes or parentheses
- Added as an extra sentence
If you want to know more about the difference between dashes, parentheses and commas and when to use them, read Grammar Girl’s article.
PS After I had written this blog, I found another example of a clumsy insertion of information from The Australian (12 April 2016) in an article called Expose Disparity about the Panama Papers.
‘With the hundreds if not thousands of individuals and corporations surfacing from the Panama Papers, the AFP, ACC, ICAC and the Australian Taxation Office (which suffered the steepest budget cuts in the public service in 2014-15, with 2300 fulltime staff lost) have a herculean job ahead of them.’
How would you improve this sentence?
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