Dashes and parentheses indicate an “aside” to the point you are making in your sentence. Although sometimes considered interchangeable, each serves a specific purpose in your writing. Dashes interrupt your writing to insert an interjection or pause, while parentheses gently add information to your point. A word of caution: although parentheses can be used throughout all writing genres, dashes are rarely used in formal academic research. Dashes are more common in fiction writing and in more casual texts. Another word of caution: make sure that you are introducing relevant additional information with your dashes or parentheses and that it is not just added for fluff. Strive to be clean and clear in your writing.
In this handout, we have provided some guidelines for using each punctuation mark.
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Dashes & Parentheses
Dashes and parentheses indicate an “aside” to the point you are making in your sentence. Although sometimes considered interchangeable, each serves a specific purpose in your writing. Dashes interrupt your writing to insert an interjection or pause, while parentheses gently add information to your point. A word of caution: although parentheses can be used throughout all writing genres, dashes are rarely used in formal academic research. Dashes are more common in fiction writing and in more casual texts. Another word of caution: make sure that you are introducing relevant additional information with your dashes or parentheses and that it is not just added for fluff. Strive to be clean and clear in your writing.
In this handout, we have provided some guidelines for using each punctuation mark.