How do you use hyphens?

[timothyweath]

How do I know when it is correct to insert a hyphen or a dash into a sentence?

I see sentences like: I don't know why I couldn't eat - I was pretty hungry.

what is the purpose of the hyphen here and when should i use it?

thanks!

 

[SoothingDave]

Use hyphens sparingly. In your example, it is really a dash, not a hyphen. Here is one person's advice on dashes:

A dash interrupts the flow of the sentence and tells the reader to get ready for some important or dramatic statement. - See more at: http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/dashes-versus-colons#sthash.msJlAP4v.dpuf

 

[emsr2d2]

How do I know when it is correct to insert a hyphen or a dash into a sentence?

I see sentences like: I don't know why I couldn't eat - I was pretty hungry.

What is the purpose of the hyphen here and when should I use it?

Thanks!

The first half of your post showed good use of capitalisation. It appears that you lost concentration in the second half of your post. See above in red.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Hyphens do several things, including:

- showing that a word that starts at the end of one line of print continues on the next line.
- connecting two words to create an adjective: She was a once-bright student who now can't remember her birthday. His lunch was half-eaten.
- connecting some prefixes to words. I interrupted him in mid-sentence. They usually use semi-sweet chocolate.
- connecting proper some proper names. I visited a town in the U.S. called Dover-Foxcroft. She paid a visit to Ms. Lambert-Rosen.

Dashes are used to show emphasis, as in your example: She tried it — but only once! And then — oh, my God! — he did it again.