When are dashes and hyphens used? When is a colon in a sentence and when is a dash? Rules for setting a dash in other cases

The difference between hyphens, dashes and minus signs is solely in their length. 🙂
If a blogger or simply “writing on the Internet” wants to shine with knowledge, show himself, brag to his beloved girl, then the easiest way to do this is by becoming an expert in spelling and punctuation. 🙂 And what is typical, you can do it without leaving the couch and completely free!

There are so many things in the world that I don't need at all. (Socrates)

Nevertheless, from such completely unnecessary things, sometimes you can get something useful. Especially if you don't want to look like a layman. It's not a shame not to know everything, it's a shame not to know a fig. 🙂

As you know, along with the well-known genders (masculine, feminine and asexual, ie, the neuter genus), there are other genders, for example, blue, pink, homosexual, transvestite genus, etc. In addition, along with the "usual" spelling there is also a computer spelling that makes adjustments to the "usual".

Many people are not aware of the fact that in the Russian typographic tradition there are three types of horizontal lines: dash, minus sign and hyphen.
Therefore, the vast majority of modern printed products are made by designers who know only one sign: the hyphen. This happened because only it is accessible on the keyboard of a personal computer without additional efforts. And the lazy, of course, do not need so much knowledge, they only need one button.

The hyphen, minus and dash differ from each other, first of all, by the area of \u200b\u200bapplication, and secondly by the length.

Minus: -

And you will not notice the difference when reading. And why soar brains over these lengths?

On a larger scale, the relationships between the signs are more clear.


Minus:
:

Examples are from the Times typeface. In all fonts, except monospaced, the difference between characters must be the same.

The hyphen is used in words and phrases of the Russian language:

for attaching particles (someone, somewhere);
to add prefixes (firstly, in Russian);
to separate complex words (physical and mathematical, blue-black);
as a sign of reduction (physical);
in phrases (business lunch, internet cafe);
as a transfer sign (it practically does not occur on the Internet today)
etc.

The hyphen in good fonts is aligned to the height of lowercase characters, since it is extremely rare among uppercase letters (cf. "Yo-mine" and "Yo-mine").
The minus and hyphen are not, contrary to popular belief, the same sign. The minus must be the same width as the plus sign (and all numbers in any font are always monospaced, otherwise the typesetters would have gone crazy to fit them in tables). This is especially noticeable in the plus-minus (and minus-plus) signs.

The main feature of the difference between a hyphen and a dash, even if someone depicted them of the same length, is that the dash is stripped off with spaces on both sides, and the hyphen is not stripped off at all.
The dash is usually made by type designers as wide as the letter M (and is called in English, respectively, em dash).

The illustration shows the difference between a dash, a minus, and a hyphen. Please note: the minus sign takes up as much space in width as any number:

(This is also the Times)

In some fonts, you can also find an underscore. In writing, it is unnecessary and does not exist at all in typography. It first appeared on typewriters as the cheapest way to make horizontal rulers.

It should also be added that OpenOffice has autocorrect, which "calculates" the difference between a hyphen and a dash, and corrects the text. WordPress does not know about such subtleties and, therefore, the dash has to be copied and pasted or use the table of signs in the visual editor (when not in a bummer, of course).

So, DASH BECOMES-I-I-I….

1. Between the subject and the predicate with a zero link, if the main members are expressed by a noun, infinitive, cardinal number in the nominative case, as well as a phrase containing the specified parts of speech. (And this phrase, tovarischi, is complete gibberish 🙂)

Really, I thought, my only purpose on earth is to destroy other people's hopes? (M.Yu. Lermontov, "A Hero of Our Time")

Love adorns life.
Love is the charm of nature ... (MM Zoshchenko, "Blue Book. Love")

Love is a form, and my own form is already decaying.
(I. S. Turgenev, "Fathers and Sons")

Incidentally, all poets are dreamy friends of love.
(A.S. Pushkin, "Eugene Onegin")

And genius and villainy are two incompatible things. (A. Pushkin, "Mozart and Salieri")

- Prokatilov is power! - the company began to console Struchkov.
(A.P. Chekhov, "On the Nail")

To know my destiny is to cherish dreams
And there with a sigh in height
Scatter fiery tears. (A. Fet, "Rocket")

It is typical foolishness to rob a poor widow. (I. Ilf and E. Petrov, "Twelve Chairs")

2. Before the words it is, that means, standing between the subject and the predicate.

And to reduce the amount of human lives by 50 million years is not criminal. (E. Zamyatin, "We")

But we know that dreams are a serious mental illness.
(E. Zamyatin, "We")

Live forever in torment
amid painful doubts -
This is a strong ideal
Creating nothing, hating, despising
And shining like a crystal. (N. Gumilyov, "The evil genius, the king of doubts ...")

3. If the subject is expressed by a personal pronoun, and the predicate is expressed by a noun in the nominative case, a dash is placed in the following cases:

a) with the logical allocation of a pronoun:

She is the culprit of that transformation. (I.A. Goncharov, "Oblomov")
You are a staircase in a big, foggy house. (V.V. Nabokov, "The Ladder")

b) when opposed:

I am thirsty and hungry, and you are a barren flower
And a meeting with you is more bleak than granite. (B.L. Pasternak, "Miracle")

Here we are - accomplices of the gatherings.
Here is Anna - an accomplice of nature. (B.A. Akhmadulina. Anna Kalandadze)

c) in the reverse order of words:

The swan is here, taking a deep breath,
She said: “Why is it far away?
Know that your fate is near
After all, this princess is me. "
(A.S. Pushkin, "The Tale of Tsar Saltan")

d) with structural parallelism of parts of the sentence:

He is all a child of kindness and light,
He's all - a triumph of freedom! (AA Blok, "Oh, I want to live madly!")

4. If there is a pause in place of the missing main or minor term in incomplete sentences.

Wandering his eyes, Ivan Savelyevich declared that on Thursday afternoon in his office in the Variety he got drunk alone in his office, after which he went somewhere, but he did not remember where, he drank stark somewhere else, and where he did not remember where he was lying under the fence, but again he does not remember where. (M. Bulgakov, "The Master and Margarita")

In winter, there was a lot of light on Peschanaya Street, it was gray and deserted, in spring it was sunny and cheerful, especially when looking at the white wall of the archpriest's house, at the clean glass, at the gray-green tops of poplars in the blue sky. (IA Bunin, "The Cup of Life")

Fire is met by fire
Trouble - trouble and illness are treated with illness. (W. Shakespeare, "Romeo and Juliet")

5. An intonation dash between any members of the sentence.

The dead were lying and babbling a terrible, unknown speech.
(A.S. Pushkin, "Feast during the plague")

The prince removed the lock, opened the door and stepped back in amazement, even shuddered all over: Nastasya Filippovna was standing in front of him.
(F.M.Dostoevsky, "The Idiot")

This is a giant of thought, the father of Russian democracy and a person close to the emperor. (I. Ilf, E. Petrov, "Twelve Chairs")

6. In the notes, the explained word is separated from the explanation by a dash (regardless of the form of expression of the predicate).

Sibyl of Sami - from the name of the island of Samos. (D.S.Buslovich, "People, Heroes, Gods")

7. With generalizing words:

a) if the generalizing word comes after homogeneous members of the sentence:

Disgrace, execution, dishonor, taxes, and labor, and gladness - you have all experienced. (AS Pushkin, "Boris Godunov")

The triumph of self-preservation, salvation from the oppressive danger - that was what filled his whole being at that moment. (F.M.Dostoevsky, "Crime and Punishment")

b) when a generalizing word comes before homogeneous terms, a colon is put after it, and a dash is put after homogeneous terms, if the sentence continues after them:

Everything around: the field drenched in blood, the French lying in a heap everywhere, scattered dirty rags in blood - it was disgusting and disgusting. (Leo Tolstoy, "War and Peace")

A crowd of buildings: human, barns, cellars - filled the yard. (N.V. Gogol, "Dead Souls")

8. Between words and numbers to indicate spatial, temporal or quantitative limits ("from ... to").

... A milestone was once along the large waterway Voronezh - Azov. (M. A. Sholokhov, "Quiet Don")

Note. If between nouns - proper names or numbers, you can insert or, then a hyphen is put.

Two or three former literary celebrities also appeared, who had happened then in Petersburg and with whom Varvara Petrovna had long maintained the most graceful relations.
(F.M.Dostoevsky, "Demons")

9. To isolate the application, if it is of an explanatory nature.

Getting money was another matter, and it met with obstacles in the same way. (Leo Tolstoy, "Anna Karenina")

10. Before the application at the end of the sentence, if it is logically highlighted.

In my room I found the clerk of the neighboring estate - Nikita Nazarych Mishchenko. (A.I. Kuprin, "Olesya")

He walked the entire Epiphany Street; at last it went downhill, feet were driving in the mud, and suddenly a wide, foggy, as if empty space opened up - a river. (F.M.Dostoevsky, "Demons")

11. To isolate common consensus definitions found at the end of a sentence, especially when listing:

This is in some showcases, while in others hundreds of ladies' hats appeared, with feathers, and without feathers, and with buckles, and without them, hundreds of shoes - black, white, yellow, leather, satin, suede, and with straps, and with pebbles. (M. Bulgakov, "The Master and Margarita")

12. To isolate the secondary members of the sentence, expressed by the infinitive, which are of an explanatory nature - both at the end and in the middle of the sentence:

Vasily the cat took a spring vacation - to get married. (A. and B. Strugatsky, "Monday starts on Saturday")

Because of Sibgatov, Dontsova even changed the direction of her scientific interests: she went deeper into the pathology of bones from one impulse - to save Sibgatov. (A.I Solzhenitsyn, "Cancer Ward")

13. For isolating plug-in structures.

They killed him - what a strange word! - in a month, in Galicia.
(IA Bunin, "Cold Autumn")

But don't try to keep for yourself
Given to you by heaven:
Condemned - and we know it ourselves -
We waste, not hoard. (AA Akhmatova, "We have the freshness of words ...")

14. Between parts of a compound sentence, if the sentence contains opposition or indicates a quick change of events.

The horses walked at a pace - and soon they began. (AS Pushkin, "The Captain's Daughter")

The hetman reigned - and beautifully. (M. Bulgakov, "White Guard")

15. For the intonational separation of the subordinate clause and the main clauses (often - in sentences with parallel structure).

If death is light, I die
If death - I will burn lightly.
And I do not forgive my tormentors,
But for the flour - I thank them. (Z. Gippius, "The Martyr")

And nowadays, the air smells like death:
Opening a window means opening the veins. (B.L. Pasternak, "The Break")

16. In non-union complex sentences, if:

a) the second part is contrasted with the first:

They were chasing me - I was not embarrassed in spirit. (AS Pushkin, "Boris Godunov")

Do good - he will not say thank you. (A.S. Pushkin, "Boris Godunov")

b) the second part contains a consequence, result, conclusion from what is said in the first:

Veli - I will die; led - I will breathe only for you. (A. Pushkin, "The Stone Guest")

I met you - and everything is old
An obsolete heart revived;
I remembered the golden time -
And my heart felt so warm. (F.I. Tyutchev, "KB")

I'm dying - I have nothing to lie to. (I. S. Turgenev, "Fathers and Sons")

c) the second part contains a comparison with what the first says:

It will pass - like the sun will shine!
He will look - he will give him a ruble. (N.A. Nekrasov, "Frost, Red Nose")

d) the sentence expresses a quick change of events, unexpected joining:

Come to me for a glass of rum
Come - we shake the old days. (AS Pushkin, "Today I am at home in the morning ...")

e) the first part indicates the time or condition of the action, which is referred to in the second part:

Condition:

God willing - ten, twenty years,
And twenty-five, and thirty he will live. (AS Pushkin, "The Covetous Knight");

I don't care, Varvara Ardalionovna; whatever - even now fulfill your intention. (F.M.Dostoevsky, "The Idiot")

Time:

And flowers, and bumblebees, and grass, and ears,
Both the azure and the midday heat ...
The time will come - the Lord of the prodigal son will ask:
"Have you been happy in earthly life?" (IA Bunin, "Both flowers and bumblebees ...")

f) with the explanatory meaning of the second part (before it you can insert the union that); however, a colon is usually used in this case, compare:

I know - a nail in my boot
more nightmarish than Goethe's fantasy! (V.V. Mayakovsky, "A Cloud in Pants")

I'll tell you with the utmost directness:
All just nonsense - sherry brandy - my angel.
(O. Mandelstam, "I'll tell you ...")

g) the second part is an adjoining sentence (before it there is or you can insert the word this):

The state of shouting stones
Armenia, Armenia!
Husky mountains calling to arms -
Armenia, Armenia! (O. Mandelstam, "Armenia")

17. With direct speech.

and DOESN'T BECOME-I-I-I….

Between the subject and the predicate, pronounced nouns, if:

1. Before the predicate there is a negation, an introductory word, an adverb, a union, a particle:

I am very sorry that my husband is not a doctor. (A.P. Chekhov, "Name Day")

Another question: how do you feel about the fact that the moon is also the work of reason? (V.M.Shukshin, "Cut")

Compare if there is a pause:

Styopa was well known in Moscow theater circles, and everyone knew that this man was not a present. (M. Bulgakov, "The Master and Margarita")

So they begin to understand.
And in the noise of a running turbine
It pretends that the mother is not a mother,
that you are not you, that home is a foreign land. (BL Pasternak, "So they begin ...")

2. The predicate is preceded by a secondary member of the sentence related to it:

[Trofimov:] All Russia is our garden.
(A.P. Chekhov, "The Cherry Orchard")

Compare if there is a pause: Mr. G-v serves, and Mr. Shatov is a former student. (F.M.Dostoevsky, "Demons")

Drowning out the whisper of inspired superstition, common sense tells us that life is just a gap of weak light between two ideally black eternities. (V.V. Nabokov, "Other Shores")

3. Nominal compound predicate precedes the subject:

This valley is a glorious place! (M.Yu. Lermontov, "A Hero of Our Time")

4. The subject in combination with the predicate is a phraseological phrase:

"Someone else's soul is dark," Bunin replies and adds: "No, your own is much darker." (I. Ilyin, "The work of I. A. Bunin")

5. The subject is expressed by a personal pronoun, and the predicate by a noun in the nominative case:

Yes, Luce is a type. Of course, he is a bore, but his vocabulary is gigantic. (The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger)

6. In conversational style sentences:

What hair! Nonsense hair! I'm talking about it! It is even better, if it starts to fight, I'm not afraid of that ... (F.M.Dostoevsky, "Crime and Punishment")

on these summer evenings-ah….

Conclusion

1. Particularly tedious connoisseurs have more than 50 cases when it is necessary to put a dash.
2. Great quotes. Just because of them, you should read this post.
3. "How (how) does the sound of a hyphen differ from a dash in oral speech?"
➡
➡
➡
➡
➡
➡
other.

This ends the most tedious post. But the study of literacy is not over. 🙂

Oak is a tree.

Optics is a branch of physics.

The older brother is my teacher.

My elder brother is a teacher.

Note 1.If before the predicate, the expressed noun in the nominative case, there is a negation not, the dash is not used, eg:

Poverty is not a vice.

Note 2.In an interrogative sentence with a main member expressed by a pronoun, a dash between the main members is not put, for example:

Who is your father?

Section 165.A dash is placed between the subject and the predicate if the subject is expressed in the form of the nominative case of the noun, and the predicate in an indefinite form, or if both are expressed in an indefinite form, for example:

The purpose of each person is to develop in himself everything human, common and enjoy it. (Belinsky).

Living life is not a field to cross.

Section 166.Dash is placed before this, it is, it means, behold, if a predicate, expressed by a noun in the nominative case or in an indefinite form, is attached through these words to the subject, for example:

Communism is Soviet power plus the electrification of the entire country (Lenin).

Poetry is the fiery gaze of a youth seething with excess strength (Belinsky).

Romanticism is the first word that announced the Pushkin period, nationality is the alpha and omega of the new period (Belinsky).

Section 167.A dash is placed before the generalizing word after the listing, for example:

Hope and swimmer - all the sea swallowed (Krylov).

Neither the cries of a rooster, nor the sonorous rumble of horns, nor the chirping of an early swallow on the roof - nothing will call the dead from the coffins (Zhukovsky).

Section 168.A dash is placed before the appendix at the end of the sentence:

If you can put it in front of the application without changing the meaning namely, eg:

I don't like this aspen tree too much (Turgenev).

In dealing with strangers, he demanded one thing - to maintain decency. (Herzen).

Paying tribute to his time, Mr. Goncharov also brought out the antidote to Oblomov - Stolz (Dobrolyubov).

If the application contains explanatory words and it is necessary to emphasize the shade of independence of such an application, for example:

I had a cast-iron teapot with me - my only joy in my travels in the Caucasus (Lermontov).

Section 169.A dash is placed between two predicates and between two independent sentences, if the second of them contains an unexpected addition or sharp opposition in relation to the first, for example:

I went out, not wanting to offend him, on the terrace - and was stunned (Herzen).

I'm in a hurry there - and there is already the whole city (Pushkin).

I wanted to go around the whole world - and did not go around a hundredth (Griboyedov).

I wanted to paint - the brushes fell out of my hands. I tried to read - his gaze slid over the lines (Lermontov).

Note 1.To enhance the shade of surprise, a dash can be placed after the compositional conjunctions connecting two parts of one sentence, for example:

Ask for a calculation on Saturday and - march to the village (M. Gorky).

I really want to go there to them, to meet them, but - I'm afraid (M. Gorky).

Note 2.To express surprise, any part of the sentence can be separated by a dash, for example:

And they threw the pike into the river (Krylov).

And ate the poor singer - to the crumb (Krylov).

Section 170.A dash is placed between two sentences and between two homogeneous members of a sentence, connected without the help of unions, to express a sharp opposition, for example:

I'm a king - I'm a slave, I'm a worm - I'm a god (Derzhavin).

It's no wonder to cut off your head - it's tricky to put (proverb).

They don't live here - paradise (Krylov).

Section 171.A dash is placed between sentences that are not connected by means of conjunctions, if the second sentence contains result or output from what what is said in the first, eg:

Praises are tempting - how not to wish them? (Krylov).

The sun is up - the day begins (Nekrasov).

Section 172.A dash is placed between two sentences if they are related in meaning as a subordinate clause (in the first place) with the main one (in the second place), but there are no subordinate unions, for example:

Gruzdev called himself get in the body.

The forest is cut - the chips fly.

Confused yourself - unravel yourself; he knew how to make porridge - be able to disentangle it; if you like to ride - love to carry sledges (Saltykov-Shchedrin).

Section 173.A dash is placed to indicate the place where a simple sentence splits into two word groups, if this cannot be expressed with other punctuation marks or word order, for example:

I ask you: do workers need to be paid? (Chekhov).

Such a decay is often observed when some term of the sentence is omitted (why the dash in this case is called elliptic), eg:

Pustoroslev for faithful service - Chizhov's estate, and Chizhov - to Siberia forever (A.N. Tolstoy).

We are villages - to ashes, hailstones - to dust, to swords - sickles and plows (Zhukovsky).

Everything is obedient to me, but I am to nothing (Pushkin).

Section 174.Dashes highlight:

Sentences and words inserted in the middle of a sentence for the purpose of clarifying or supplementing it, in cases where parenthesis may weaken the connection between the insertion and the main sentence, for example:

Here - there is nothing to do - friends kissed (Krylov).

... How suddenly - lo and behold! oh shame! - said the oracle nonsense (Krylov).

Only once - and even then at the very beginning - there was an unpleasant and sharp conversation (Furmanov).

A common application after the noun being defined, if it is necessary to emphasize the shade of independence of such an application, for example:

The senior sergeant - a brave elderly Cossack with stripes for long-term service - ordered to "build" (Sholokhov).

Before the doors of the club - a wide log house - workers with banners awaited guests (Fedin).

A group of homogeneous members standing in the middle of a sentence, for example:

Usually, from the riding villages - Elanskaya, Vyoshenskaya, Migulinskaya and Kazanskaya - they took Cossacks into the 11-12th Army Cossack regiments and in the Atamansky Life Guards (Sholokhov).

Note.A dash is placed after an enumeration in the middle of a sentence, if this enumeration is preceded by a generalizing word or words somehow, eg, namely (see §160).

Section 175.A dash is placed as an additional sign after the comma before the word, which is repeated in order to associate a new sentence with it (more often a subordinate, amplifying, complementary or developing main sentence) or a further part of the same sentence, for example:

I knew very well that this was my husband, not some new, unknown person, but a good person - my husband, whom I knew as myself (L. Tolstoy).

Now, as a judicial investigator, Ivan Ilyich felt that all, without exception, the most important, smug people, were in his hands. (L. Tolstoy).

Section 176.A dash is placed as an additional sign after the comma, which separates the main sentence from the preceding group of clauses, if it is necessary to emphasize the splitting of a single whole into two parts, for example:

Who is to blame, who is right, is not for us to judge (Krylov).

Whether Stolz did anything for this, what he did and how he did - we do not know. (Dobrolyubov).

Punctuation

Dash

Section 164. A dash is placed between the subject and the predicate, the expressed noun in the nominative case (without a ligament). This rule is most often applied when the predicate defines the concept expressed by the subject, for example:

Note 1. If before the predicate, the expressed noun in the nominative case, there is a negation not , then the dash is not used, for example:

Poverty is not a vice.

Note 2. In an interrogative sentence with a main member expressed by a pronoun, a dash between the main members is not put, for example:

Who is your father?

Section 165. A dash is placed between the subject and the predicate if the subject is expressed in the nominative form of the noun, and the predicate in the indefinite form, or if both are expressed in the indefinite form, for example:

Belinsky

Section 166. Dash is placed before this, this is, this means, here , if a predicate expressed by a noun in the nominative case or in an indefinite form is attached through these words to the subject, for example:

Lenin

Belinsky

Section 167. A dash is placed before the generalizing word after the listing, for example:

Krylov

Zhukovsky

Section 168. A dash is placed before the appendix at the end of the sentence:

1. If you can insert it before the application without changing the meaning namely , eg:

Turgenev

Herzen

Dobrolyubov

2. If the application contains explanatory words and it is necessary to emphasize the shade of independence of such an application, for example:

Lermontov

Section 169. A dash is placed between two predicates and between two independent sentences, if the second of them contains an unexpected addition or sharp opposition in relation to the first, for example:

Herzen

Pushkin

Griboyedov

Lermontov

Note 1. To enhance the shade of surprise, a dash can be placed after the compositional conjunctions connecting two parts of one sentence, for example:

M. Gorky

Note 2. To express surprise, any part of the sentence can be separated by a dash, for example:

Krylov

Section 170. A dash is placed between two sentences and between two homogeneous members of the sentence, connected without the help of unions, to express a sharp opposition, for example:

Derzhavin

Proverb

Krylov

Section 171. A dash is placed between sentences that are not connected by unions if the second sentence contains the result or conclusion from what is said in the first, for example:

Krylov

Nekrasov

Section 172. A dash is placed between two sentences if they are related in meaning as a subordinate clause (in the first place) with the main one (in the second place), but there are no subordinate unions, for example:

Saltykov-Shchedrin

Section 173. A dash is placed to indicate the place where a simple sentence splits into two word groups, if this cannot be expressed with other punctuation marks or word order, for example:

Chekhov

Such a splitting is often observed when some term of the sentence is omitted (why the dash in this case is called elliptic), for example:

A. N. Tolstoy

Zhukovsky

Section 175. A dash is placed as an additional sign after the comma before the word, which is repeated in order to associate a new sentence with it (more often a subordinate, amplifying, complementary or developing main sentence) or a further part of the same sentence, for example:

L. Tolstoy

Section 176. A dash is placed as an additional sign after the comma, which separates the main sentence from the preceding group of subordinate clauses, if it is necessary to emphasize the splitting of a single whole into two parts, for example:

Krylov

Dobrolyubov

Section 177. A dash is used as an additional decimal point to indicate the transition from an increase to a decrease in a period, for example:

Pushkin

In the 1800s, at a time when there were no railways, no highways, no gas or stearin light, no spring low sofas, no furniture without varnish, no disillusioned youths with glass, no liberal women philosophers, nor the lovely ladies-camellias, of which there are so many divorced in our time - in those naive times when from Moscow, leaving for St. Petersburg in a cart or carriage, they took with them a whole home-made kitchen, drove for eight days along a soft, dusty or dirty road and believed in fire cutlets, in Valdai bells and bagels - when tallow candles burned on long autumn evenings, lighting up family circles of twenty and thirty people, wax and spermaceti candles were inserted into the candelabra balls at the balls, when furniture was placed symmetrically, when our fathers were they were still young, not only by the absence of wrinkles and gray hair, but they were shooting for women and from the other corner of the room they rushed to pick up handkerchiefs that were accidentally and not accidentally dropped, our mothers wore short waists and huge sleeves and solved family affairs by taking out tickets, when the lovely camellia ladies were hiding from the daylight - in the naive times of Masonic lodges, Martinists, the Tugendbund, in the days of the Miloradovichs, Davydovs, Pushkins, - in the provincial town of K. there was a congress of landowners, and it ended noble elections.

L. Tolstoy

Section 178. A dash is placed between two words to denote the limits of spatial, temporal or quantitative (in this case, the dash replaces the meaning of the word "from ... to"), for example:

Section 179. A dash is placed between two or more proper names, the totality of which is called a doctrine, scientific institution, etc., for example:

Boyle's physical law - Mariotte.

When writing, have you often had to think about when to put a colon and when to use a dash? Probably often, because these punctuation marks, like any others, require adherence to certain rules, although in some cases they are very similar. But which ones - we will talk later in the article.

The relationship between generalizing words and a colon or dash

Arguing about when to put a colon, and when to put a dash, first of all it is necessary to mention those sentences in which homogeneous terms are used, and with them there is a generalizing word. It is after it, before the listing, that a colon is needed.

So, for example, in the sentence: “ In his backpack, you could always find interesting things: pebbles, bolts, metal balls and even a fly in a matchbox", Before the listing there is a generalizing word" things"Followed by a colon in this situation.

If the generalizing word is after the enumeration, then a dash must be placed in front of it. For example: " Pebbles, bolts, metal balls and even a fly in a matchbox - these are the things that can always be found in Petka's backpack».

By the way, after the generalizing word, you can often find a dash, which is also the right option. For example: " Everything is different there - language, lifestyle and even values».

Colon and dash in non-union complex sentences

There are several cases when a colon is used in complex non-union sentences:

If the second part of a complex sentence explains the content of the first. Then between them you can put unions "namely" or "like that." For example: "Everything in nature spoke of joy: the sun was shining brightly from the clear sky, and birds were singing in different voices."
If the second part of the proposal indicates the reason for what is mentioned in the first part of it. Then, by the way, between the parts it is easy to put unions "because" and "since". For example: "Ivan was a very distrustful person: his loved ones let him down too often."
Another case when a colon is put between parts of a sentence is where one part warns that the presentation will continue further. In such sentences, in the first part, as a rule, one of the verbs is used: see, know, hear, feel, etc. For example: "Peter and Anna knew: they will definitely have a big and noisy family." As you can see, between the parts of this sentence and similar ones, you can put the conjunction "what", thus turning it into a complex sentence.

A dash instead of a colon in these sentences is also a valid option. Compare:

He understood - the irreparable happened.
It is better not to say something like this with him - it may take offense.
It seemed to them - a little more, and everything will come true.

By the way, sentences with a warning about the continuation of the narrative should be distinguished from complex sentences that do not contain such. In this case, a comma is placed between the parts. For example: " I know they will live with us».

When a colon is used in a sentence with direct speech

In those sentences where direct speech is used, a colon is placed after the words of the author, for example:

On the way home, Nina plaintively asked Sonya: "Can you ever forgive me?"
She said through clenched teeth: "If you knew how I hate this life."

Sentences that include direct speech must be distinguished from complex structures. In the latter, a comma is placed before the relative clause, for example:

On the way home, Nina plaintively asked Sonya if she could count on forgiveness.
She spoke through clenched teeth that she extremely hated this life.

When to put a colon in the title

The rules for writing headings require a separate explanation. If the title of some text is divided into two parts, and the first of them (nominative) names a person, problem, scene, etc., and the second specifies the meaning of the first, then a colon is put between them.

Let's look at examples of such headers:

Angina: signs and methods of treatment of the disease.
Mikhail Bulgakov: unknown facts from the biography of the writer.
Ten days in India: a land of wonders and contrasts.

So should I put a dash or a colon?

In conclusion, we can say that in modern language it becomes easier to decide when to put a colon, and when it is better to do with a dash, since the dash in this " duel "is often the winner.

According to the famous D.E. Rosenthal, a dash is a freer sign, often “ going "and in the possession of the colon. What explains this? The linguist believes that a dash in a sentence performs not only purely syntactic functions, but also gives it an emotional and expressive coloring. Obviously, this is why authors love it so much in fiction and in periodicals. As an example, we can cite several phrases from newspapers: “ The elections are over - we can summarize" or " Experts call this process quite natural - the demand for land has increased».

This means that it is possible to decide when to put a colon in a sentence and when to use a dash based on the author's preferences.

A dash in a simple sentence is used in two cases:

between subject and predicate;
if the offer is incomplete.

Dash between subject and predicate

A dash between the subject and the predicate is placed if:

Both main members of the sentence are expressed by nouns in the nominative case:
Moscow is the capital of our Motherland.
Both main members of the sentence are expressed in cardinal numbers:
Three times three - nine.
Both main members of a sentence are expressed by an infinitive, or one of the main members of a sentence is expressed by an infinitive, and the other by a noun:
Smoking is harmful to health. Smoking is harmful to health.
Before the words, this, here, means:
Reading is the best teaching. Water is the source of life.

A dash between the subject and the predicate is not put if:

The subject is expressed by a personal pronoun:
I am a citizen of Russia.
With the predicate, there is a negative particle not:
Irina is not my sister.
It should be distinguished to which member of the sentence the particle does not belong, so, for example, in the sentence “ Living life is not a field to cross»The particle does NOT refer not to the predicate, but to the object, hence the dash in the sentence is put.
The predicate is introduced by comparative unions as if, as if:
The lake is like a mirror.
If there is an introductory word between the subject and the predicate:
My brother is certainly a good man.

Dash in an incomplete simple sentence

An incomplete sentence is a sentence in which any member of the sentence is omitted, but there is a place for it in the sentence and it is easily reconstructed from the context.
For example:
They sent letters to everyone, but they didn’t send them to me (the dash replaces “letters”).
Take care of your dress again, and honor from your youth (a dash replaces "take care").

Attention! It is necessary to distinguish incomplete sentences with the omission of one of the main members of the sentence and one-piece sentences.

In one-part sentences, the second main term is not required; without it, the meaning of the sentence is clear. In one-part sentences, there is no place for the second main member of the sentence.

In incomplete sentences, it can always be restored.
For example:
The mice ate all the food. Now we took up the books (it is clear from the context that the mice took up the books). There is a knock on the door (a one-part sentence that does not need a subject).

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