Dash Before Summary Words
The Dash
Rulebase Summary
When one word or a few words are used after the sentence to summarize its whole idea (summary words), use a dash before them. Often a pronoun (each, these, them, all) refers back to multiple items in the sentence. The dash signals the shift from specifics to summary.
Examples
A. The invoices, the receipts, and the contracts, all of them were in the filing cabinet.
A. The invoices, the receipts, and the contracts -- all of them were in the filing cabinet.
Dash before summary words referring back to the list.
A. The files, the folders, the binders, all of it was destroyed.
A. The files, the folders, the binders -- all of it was destroyed.
Dash before summary word that refers back to the list.
Transcript Notes
Summary words differ from appositives in that they do not rename just one word in the sentence — they refer back to the entire idea.
Summary words come in various forms: nouns or adjectives that provide a summary description (often at the end), pronouns that rename several words (each, these, them, all), and clauses (most frequently at the end) that refer to a word at the beginning. A comma is used when a single word is renamed and the appositive is right next to it; a dash is used when several words are renamed.
If a series separates the subject from the verb or a list from the introduction to the list, dashes around the series or before the list may make the sentence easier to read.
Style Guide References (3)
BGGP
BGGP
Morson's