Using an Em Dash in Place of Other Punctuation

Below we’ll show you just one example of each punctuation mark being replaced with an em dash so you can see how it would work. Remember though, that as with anything in writing you should always use it sparingly. The other punctuation on the list is the more standard way to write the sentences but you can certainly use em dashes’ to replace them at different points in your writing for a change and for added effect.

Commas

We can use an em dash to replace a comma in a sentence. In the example below, we’ll use two commas and two em dashes in the changed version to show how this would work:

• The house down the street, the one with the large yellow door, was burgled last night.
• The house down the street—the one with the large yellow door—was burgled last night.

As you can see, an em dash can replace a comma in a sentence and it does the same job.

An em dash with appositives

An appositive is an extra information that is included for clarification. The use of commas is very common to set off appositives but, if an appositive already contains commas, adding even more of them would be very confusing for the reader. A great alternative to commas, in this case, is em dashes.

• All three of us—Melissa, Shelly, and I—went to the same university.
• Talk to the head of the faculty—Mrs. Allen, not me—if you need any help with this assignment.

Parentheses

In a similar way to how we used commas above, we can use parentheses to add additional information to a sentence. Em dashes work in the same way in these cases. Like this:

• The schoolboy finally answered (after taking a few seconds to make up a story) that he hadn’t thrown the paper ball at all.
• The schoolboy finally answered—after taking a few seconds to make up a story—that he hadn’t thrown the paper ball at all.

Colons

We use colons to join an independent clause and a dependent clause. Sometimes, you might tire of using a colon for this, so using an em dash instead is certainly acceptable. It would look like this:

• I won’t be in work today: I’m sick.
• I won’t be in work today—I’m sick.

You would not, however, be able to use an em dash to replace a colon in a list.

Semicolons

We use semicolons to join two independent clauses together. Again, em dashes’ can replace semicolons’ when you are using them in this way. It might look like this:

• The snow had fallen; the children were building snowmen.
• The snow had fallen—the children were building snowmen.