Year 6 · English · Colons, semi-colons and dashes · Lesson 3
Dashes and choosing punctuation
Dashes for drama and parenthesis, the dash–hyphen difference, and choosing between colons, semi-colons, dashes and brackets.
13-minute video lesson
Teaching, worked examples and 20 practice questions solved step by step.
Watch free for a monthWhat your child will learn
- Use a single dash for drama
- Use paired dashes for parenthesis
- Tell a dash from a hyphen
- Choose the right punctuation mark
The method
- List/explanation: colon.
- Linked clauses: semi-colon.
- Drama: dash.
- Extra info in pairs.
Key words: dash, hyphen, parenthesis, brackets, colon, semi-colon.
Worked examples
The first three practice questions from the lesson, with every step.
Question 1
Which is longer: a dash or a hyphen?
- Step 1: d...
Answer: a dash
Question 2
What does a single dash often add?
- Step 1: Drama
Answer: a dramatic or surprising extra
Question 3
What does a pair of dashes do?
- Step 1: Like brackets
Answer: adds extra information (parenthesis)