English Punctuation, The Hyphen Is Not a Dash - Part 2

by Krystalina Soash -

For some of us the use of a dash versus the use of a hyphen may be confusing, so with that said, I'd like to summarize the definition and the use of the hyphen before we explore the definition and the use of the dash. In this second of two-part series you will find a summary taken from my previous writing on the use of the hyphen. Stay with me, this is really helpful.

The hyphen in summary looks like this (-) and its functions in the English language are to divide, compound, or to show a relationship. Examples of these are:

To divide: As in clarifying the use of numbers. Ask yourself, would you write 23 as twentythree or would you write twenty-three? What about 55, would you write fiftyfive, or fifty-five?

To compound words or names: To bring two or more words or names together to make one word or name as in: power-driven, goal-oriented, self-improvement, Editor-in-Chief, or Fischer-Johnson.

To show a relationship: As in dates between birth and death on a tombstone, an obituary, or historical information as in George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950), or keeping game scores, Turtles vs. Rabbits 14-15.

Now on to the dash!

The dash is surprisingly two hyphens put together and looks like this (-), more like an elongated hyphen (-). The purpose of the dash is to show a sudden or unexpected break in the flow of a sentence and its concepts. Notice that the use of the dash is very different than the use of the hyphen as you'll see shortly in the following examples.

There are two types and uses for the dash, and these are:

Afterthought: The use of the dash as an afterthought is used when a thought occurs after the initial sentence has been made; after a point has been expressed. So a sentence with an afterthought might look like this: "The young girl ran as fast as a super hero - or so she thought". Did you notice the afterthought? That is "... - or so she thought."

Parenthetical: The parenthetical use of the dash on the other hand, is an idea or concept placed in the middle of a sentence as if being in parenthesis. So a parenthetical sentence might look like this: "The Grand Canyon - if you've never been there - is a once in a life time sight to see."

So if you've been confused with the use of the hyphen and the dash, you are encouraged to read the previous article on the definition and examples of the hyphen and its uses.

Krystalina Soash is a freelance trilingual interpreter and writer with two published works, "Writing Tips for Student Projects and New Freelance Writers" and "Your Positive Potential: Action Steps for Self-Empowerment". You may visit Krystalina at http://www.yourpositivepotential.com/

English Punctuation, The Hyphen Is Not a Dash - Part 1

by Krystalina Soash -

Ever notice the use of the hyphen and the dash? As a writer, I've wondered if anyone really notices. In this short two-part series we will explore the hyphen and the dash. First, the hyphen, and here's something really interesting, it appears that we only notice small parts of English grammar when we are given a writing assignment; when we want to place emphasis on a certain part of our writings, or when we want to improve our writing skills.

If you've been given a writing assignment and are wondering whether it would be better to use a dash or a hyphen, the following definitions and examples of the hyphen and its uses will give you a clearer understanding of when and how to use the hyphen.

The hyphen is a punctuation mark in the English language that looks like a short line (-) hanging in midair between two or more words. The three-fold purpose of the hyphen is to divide, compound, and/or to show a relationship.

The three main purposes for the use of the hyphen are:

To divide: The use of the hyphen to divide is mostly used to clarify the use of numbers. Though a number may sound like one word, it's really not. Take for example the number 23, would you write twentythree or would you write twenty-three? What about 55, would you write fiftyfive or fifty-five? Then what about 78 and so on?

To create compound words or names: Another use of the hyphen is to create compound words, which means bringing two or more words or names together to make one word or name. Examples of this use are: power-driven, goal-oriented, self-improvement, red-faced, Editor-in-Chief, Fischer-Johnson.

To show a relationship: The most common use of the hyphen is used to show a relationship between two concepts especially as in dates between birth and death on a tombstone, an obituary, or on historical information as in George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950). It is also used in keeping game scores, Turtles vs. Rabbits 14-15. And yes, even in Subject-Verb Agreement.
So if you've been someone who struggles with the use of a hyphen, then struggle no more. The main points to remember are that the hyphen is generally used to divide, to create compound words, or to show a relationship between ideas, concepts, or objects.

I hope you stick around because the definition and examples of the dash and its uses are just around the corner. Do stay tuned.

Krystalina Soash is a freelance trilingual interpreter and writer with two published works, "Writing Tips for Student Projects and New Freelance Writers" and recently published, "Your Positive Potential: Action Steps for Self-Empowerment". You may visit Krystalina at http://www.yourpositivepotential.com/

How to Format a User Manual

by Elizabeth Armenta -

The traditional form of help documentation is a hard copy manual that is printed out, nicely bound, and functional. It serves as a reference manual - skim the TOC or index, find the page, and follow the directions step by step. The challenge with these types of documents is that user manuals can often become jumbled and hard to understand. And in an effort to fix this issue, writers can try to employ what I call "look over here" techniques to minimize the wordiness and simplify the content.

I have found this approach to be extremely ineffective most of the time. Why? Because user manuals are not meant to be flipped through 10 times for one task. That is what online help is for.

So how can we create a good user manual?

Well, we do so by dividing the content up and presenting it in a self-contained manner. In this way, ALL of the information necessary to perform that task is present in that section of content. Take this basic scenario of a sample page from a user manual, and see if you can tell what's wrong with it:

Logging into the application

1. Open the Start Menu. If you do not know how to access the Start Menu, see page 5.

2. Locate Application A, and double click to open it. For more information about how to do this, see page 2. If you do not see the program listed, go to page 6 for troubleshooting.

3. On the login screen, enter your user name. For more information about where to get your user name, see page 3.

4. Enter your password. If you have forgotten your password or are not sure what your password is, see page 4.

5. Click OK to log in.

Does it look concise and pretty? Yes. Does it appear easy to scan? Sure. But is it effective? No.

Why?

In the scenario above, we have turned five simple steps into an extremely complex, page-flipping process whereby the user has to go from page to page in order to perform a simple task. The workflow looks something like this: page 1, page 5, page 1, page 2 or page 6, page 1, page 3, page 1, page 4, page 1.

Why put the user through this? And imagine if the pages weren't close together or there were 20 steps in the process? Let's say the manual was 200 pages long, and the user had to flip from page 25, to page 72, to page 4, to page 169, etc...

The best way to format a user manual is to create self-contained modules that have all of the necessary information within the module. Page flipping should be minimized. However you must be careful to format the text so that it still maintains its readability. How do we do this? By using bullets and notes.

My rule of thumb is: have your main action in the step, and any supplementary instructions in bullets or a note. That way, if the user doesn't need the extra help, he/she can move forward quickly and not be encumbered by excess information. Visit the Technical Writing section of the blog on my website for an expanded version of this article, plus a correctly formatted version of the example user manual page above.

Elizabeth Armenta is a freelance writer/editor and marketing consultant. Visit her website at http://www.writerliz.com to learn more about her services and what she can do for you.

Learn to Avoid Common Adjective and Adverb Errors

by Katrina Williams -

There are three basic forms for adjectives and adverbs: the basic form, the comparative form, and the superlative form. There are two basic rules to remember when using adjectives and adverbs in the comparative and superlative forms.

Rule One: For positive comparisons, to form the comparative, -er and more are used, and to form the superlative, -est and most are used. For negative comparisons, to form the comparative, -er and less are used, and to form the superlative, -est and least are used.

Rule Two: When comparing two items with one-syllable words, use -er. When comparing two items with words of more than one syllable, use more or less before the word. Never use -er and more or less at the same time. When comparing three or more items with one-syllable words, use -est. When comparing three or more items with words of more than one syllable, use most or least before the word. Never use -est and most or least at the same time.

Positive Comparisons: One-syllable words
Basic Form: tall
Comparative Form: tall + er = taller
Superlative Form: tall + est = tallest

Positive Comparisons: Words of more than one syllable
Basic Form: difficult
Comparative Form: difficult + more = more difficult
Superlative Form: difficult + most = most difficult

Negative Comparisons: One-syllable words
Basic Form: tall
Comparative Form: tall + less = less tall
Superlative Form: tall + least = least tall

Negative Comparisons: Words of more than one syllable
Basic Form: difficult
Comparative Form: difficult + less = less difficult
Superlative Form: difficult + least = least difficult

There are exceptions to the adjective and adverb rule. The adjectives good and bad and the adverbs well and badly do not follow the conventional rules for adjectives and adverbs in the comparative and superlative forms. The adjectives good and bad and the adverbs well and badly are irregular adjectives and adverbs, meaning they form the comparative and superlative differently than most other adjectives and adverbs.

For an easy way to remember when to use the adjectives good and bad and the adverbs well and badly in the comparative form, follow these rules. When comparing two items, use better or worse. Never use more and better or worse at the same time. When comparing three or more items, use bestor worst. Never use most and best or worst at the same time.

Adjectives
Basic Form: good
Comparative Form: good = better
Superlative Form: good = best

Incorrect: The youngest child is a more better student than her eldest sibling.
Correct: The youngest child is a better student than her eldest sibling.

Basic Form: bad
Comparative Form: bad = worse
Superlative Form: bad = worst

Incorrect: The youngest child is a more worse student than her eldest sibling.
Correct: The youngest child is a worse student than her eldest sibling.

Adverbs

Basic Form: well
Comparative Form: well = better
Superlative Form: well = best

Incorrect: The youngest child plays piano more better student than her eldest sibling.
Correct: The youngest child plays piano better than her eldest sibling.

Basic Form: badly
Comparative Form: badly = worse
Superlative Form: badly = worst

Incorrect: The youngest child plays piano more worse student than her eldest sibling.
Correct: The youngest child plays piano worse than her eldest sibling.

There are two types of errors involving adjectives and adverbs in the comparative and superlative forms. One error occurs when both methods for forming the comparative and superlative forms are used-for example, using both -er and more or less to compare two items or using both -est and mostor least to compare three or more items.

Incorrect: The youngest child is more taller than her eldest sibling.
Correct: The youngest child is taller than her eldest sibling.

Another error occurs when the comparative and superlative forms are used with the wrong number of items. The comparative form is used when two items are being compared. The superlative form is used when three or more items are being compared.

Incorrect: The banker made the more difficult decision in the bank's history.
Correct: The banker made the most difficult decision in the bank's history.

Following these basic rules for adjectives and adverbs in the comparative and the superlative forms will make using adjectives and adverbs hassle-free.

Katrina Parker Williams maintains a blog of her musings about literature, writing, art, and culture at Stepartdesigns's Blog - http://stepartdesigns.wordpress.com/. She is the author of a fictional novel titled Liquor House Music and publishes writing and publishing articles online. Her work has appeared in Charlotte Viewpoint, Muscadine Lines, USADEEPSOUTH, and on the Wilson Community College website. Her work has recently been published at The Saints' Placenta and is forthcoming in All Things Girl, the Dead Mule School of Southern Literature, and Muscadine Lines.