Commas and double dashes

[Miss Mae]

Sir, in your discussion about parenthesis (Part I – “A unified approach to the proper use of punctuation in English”, Part II – “A unified approach to the proper use of punctuation in English”, Part III – “A unified approach to the proper use of punctuation in English”), I had deduced that I should only use double dashes if the parenthetical folds another sentence into a sentence or if a stronger break is needed. You also mentioned that 'parentheticals enclosed by parentheses need not to be complete sentences.' Do you mean to say that parentheticals enclosed by commas or double dashes have to? Also, if parentheticals can behave as either modifiers, intensifiers, interrupters, or interjections, does it mean liberty for writers to place parentheticals where they want to?

[Joe Carillo]

Yes, parentheticals enclosed by parentheses need not be complete sentences. For instance, “The hospital nurse told her manager that she was sick (a lie) and stayed at a hospital for two days (a half-truth because she actually worked there part-time).” Here, of course, “a lie” is a noun phrase and “a half-truth because she actually worked part-time” is a sentence fragment.

Parentheticals enclosed by commas or double dashes likewise need not be complete sentences. Those enclosed by commas are often appositives, as in “The lady legislator, a tough-talking critic of government excess, called the government press official a spoiled brat,” or adjective phrases, as in “The French poet, legendary for his revolutionary poetry in his late teens, abandoned poetry altogether by the time he was 21.”

When the syntax of appositives and adjective phrases becomes more complicated than simple phrases, it becomes advisable to set them off with double dashes to avoid confusing the reader, as in the following example: “The lady legislator—a tough-talking critic of government excess who won’t abide official insolence in any form—called the government press official a spoiled brat during a committee hearing.” Using double dashes to set off such parentheticals makes them more emphatic. However, even just setting off such complicated parentheticals with a pair of commas often will still do: “The lady legislator, a tough-talking critic of government excess who won’t abide official insolence in any form, called the government press official a spoiled brat during a committee hearing.”

When the parenthetical is a complete sentence, however, it becomes grammatically mandatory to use a pair of double dashes, as in this example: “The lady legislator—she is a tough-talking critic of government excess who won’t abide official insolence in any form—called the government press official a spoiled brat during a committee hearing.” To use only a pair of commas to set off complete-sentence parentheticals results in a run-on or fused sentence of the comma-splice variety: “The lady legislator, she is a tough-talking critic of government excess who won’t abide official insolence in any form, called the government press official a spoiled brat during a committee hearing.”

One question remains, of course: Will parenthesis do for such complete-sentence parentheticals? The answer is not very well from the standpoint of syntax, as we can see in this construction: “The lady legislator (she is a tough-talking critic of government excess who won’t abide official insolence in any form) called the government press official a spoiled brat during a committee hearing.” It will be much better to convert the parenthetical sentence into an adjective phrase, as follows: “The lady legislator (a tough-talking critic of government excess who won’t abide official insolence in any form) called the government press official a spoiled brat during a committee hearing.”

Take note, though, that using parenthesis to set off such parentheticals diminishes their importance to the statement, making them sound simply as an aside that the writer or speaker doesn’t really consider important. It’s much better to use a pair of commas—but remember, they are not as good as double dashes—to set them off from the sentence: “The lady legislator, a tough-talking critic of government excess who won’t abide official insolence in any form, called the government press official a spoiled brat during a committee hearing.”

[hill roberts]

I tend to use two hyphens as a dash in the absence of a dash in my pc. Is there a way to solve this problem? The underscore and hyphen are in one key, but I still can't work out where the proper dash is.

[Miss Mae]

Thank you for your reply, Sir. But another question remains, I think. That is, if parentheticals can behave as either modifiers, intensifiers, interrupters, or interjections, does it mean liberty for writers to place parentheticals where they want to?

[Joe Carillo]

I tend to use two hyphens as a dash in the absence of a dash in my pc. Is there a way to solve this problem? The underscore and hyphen are in one key, but I still can't work out where the proper dash is.

If you’re using Word for Windows, coming up with a double dash is easy. I can only explain the method in a runabout way, though; somehow, not being a techie, I couldn’t figure out a simpler, more straightforward instruction for it.

Let’s say you want to set off the adjective phrase in the following sentence with double dashes instead: Life alone in North America, unlike that in the Philippines where extended families under one roof are common, can get so lonesome.

First, type out Life alone in North America and, without a space after the last letter (“a”), type two dashes (--) immediately followed by the first letter of the next word (“u” in “unlike”), then hit the space bar; this way, you’ll produce a contiguous double dash instead of two hyphens, as follows:

Life alone in North America—u   

Then type out the remainder of the adjective phrase:

Life alone in North America—unlike that in the Philippines where extended families under one roof are common

Upon typing the last letter of the word common (“n”), again type two dashes (--) followed by the first letter of the next word (“c” in “can”), then hit the space bar; presto, you’ll get the second double dash, as follows:

Life alone in North America—unlike that in the Philippines where extended families under one roof are common—c

Then type out the remainder of the adjective phrase:

Life alone in North America—unlike that in the Philippines where extended families under one roof are common—can get so lonesome.

Try it now with your Word for Windows processor. (Mind you, I don’t know how to produce a double dash using the Apple Mac; perhaps some Forum member can tell us by joining this discussion thread.) Later, when you post that sentence in the Forum discussion board by copy-pasting it, you’ll find that the double dashes will reproduce faithfully.

Take note, though, that when you compose your posting directly on the Forum discussion board, the same process won’t produce double dashes—only two hyphens (--). Because of this technical limitation, we have to make do with hyphens for double dashes in such situations.

[Joe Carillo]

Thank you for your reply, Sir. But another question remains, I think. That is, if parentheticals can behave as either modifiers, intensifiers, interrupters, or interjections, does it mean liberty for writers to place parentheticals where they want to?

Positioning parentheticals in a sentence is done on a case to case basis, based on functionality, logic, and clarity.

When a parenthetical is used as a modifier, it obviously should be positioned right after the word or phrase it modifies, as in this example:

“Alicia, a popular cheerleader in high school, doesn’t want to have the same extracurricular involvement in college.”

In that sentence, “a popular cheerleader in high school” is an appositive that functions as a parenthetical because it’s inserted in the passage as an amplifying or explanatory phrase.

That sentence, of course, can also be constructed this way:

“A popular cheerleader in high school, Alicia doesn’t want to have the same extracurricular involvement in college.”

In that front-end position, though, “a popular cheerleader in high school” isn’t a parenthetical because it’s not an inserted element in the sentence. It’s simply a front-end adjective phrase.

Positioning is even more crucial in the case of an interrupter as a parenthetical:

“The scholarly Joanna—of all people!—wants to be college cheerleader.”

Obviously, that interrupter doesn’t work—it doesn’t do the interruption job—when placed at the tail end of the sentence:

“The scholarly Joanna wants to be college cheerleader—of all people!”
 
When a parenthetical is an intensifier, it obviously should immediately follow the noun being intensified, as in the following example:

“George—our very own George!—got the state scholarship!” 

In the case of an interjection, the parenthetical expression should break into the idea being expressed, as in the following example:

“Our longtime partner—alas!—has abandoned us!”

It doesn’t serve its purpose positioned at the tail end of the statement:
“Our longtime partner has abandoned us, alas!”

[Miss Mae]

I see. Thank you again.

[Miss Mae]

Since we are already talking about punctuation marks, may I also ask about exclamation points? There are always times when I find myself unsure on whether to use it. Also, is it proper to use it consecutively? (example: Thank you! I've just received it!)

[Joe Carillo]

When in doubt about using an exclamation mark, don't use it. There's nothing improper in using exclamation marks on consecutive statements, but never use multiple exclamation marks to end a sentence, no matter how intense you intend the statement to be. The habitual use of multiple exclamation marks is often a mark of a highly excitable or juvenile-minded person.

[Miss Mae]

Uh-oh  Thank you for that information.