Since we’ve already covered how to use em dashes in sentences, we’re going to take this time to provide you with some more examples of how it might look so you can get an idea of different ways of using them. For the ‘in place of other punctuation’ sections, we won’t include the other form of punctuation because it’ll take up too much of your time. But certainly, think about how the sentence might be written with commas/parentheses/colon/semicolons instead, so you can see how that might work.

In Place of Other Punctuation

Commas:

• The little girl—the one with the red hair and pigtails—approached the teacher the moment they walked into the classroom.
• Sandra felt scared—then again, she always did nowadays—the moment the door swung open.
• You are the person—the only person—that I could ever love.

Parentheses:

• The teacher—the substitute—seemed to know everybody’s names already.
• The police officer—the one with the curly hair—looked especially angry.
• I love cake—lemon cake has always been my favorite—but even I couldn’t have eaten all the flavors the bakery had on offer.

Colons:

• I had never known someone could be so nice—before you.
• The snow had fallen—white and crisp.
• A long day at work had left me feeling one thing—exhausted.

Semicolons:

• The children were all playing—they filled the schoolyard with laughter.
• The animals were already awake—Sally could hear the orchestra of farm animals as she made her way outside.
• Sunshine was already lighting her way through the trees—the days were getting longer and warmer.