Front

What is a hyphen?

Back

A hyphen is a punctuation mark (-) used to join words or parts of words, such as in compound words (e.g., well-known) or to indicate a word break.

Front

What is a dash?

Back

A dash (—) is a punctuation mark used to indicate a pause or break in thought, or to set off information for emphasis.

Front

What are parentheses?

Back

Parentheses ( ) are punctuation marks used to enclose additional information that is not essential to the main point of the sentence.

Front

What are brackets?

Back

Brackets [ ] are punctuation marks used to include explanatory or missing information within quoted material.

Front

When should you use a hyphen?

Back

Use a hyphen to connect two or more words that work together as a single idea (e.g., mother-in-law) or to separate syllables of a word at the end of a line.

Front

Can hyphens be used instead of commas?

Back

No, hyphens cannot be used instead of commas to identify non-essential information in a sentence.

Front

What is the purpose of using parentheses in writing?

Back

Parentheses are used to add information that is not of great importance but may be interesting or useful to the reader.

Front

Which punctuation mark is NOT used to set off non-essential elements?

Back

Hyphens are not used to set off non-essential elements.

Front

Fill in the blank: She is a multi___media artist.

Back

Hyphen (multi-media)

Front

Fill in the blank: Use a pen____blue or black ink only____to complete this application.

Back

Parentheses (Use a pen (blue or black ink only) to complete this application.)