The Dash (-)
Use a dash to indicate a change of thought, or to highlight and give greater importance to additional information inserted in a sentence
|
All the officers - Jane, Susie, Brent, and Michael - will be attending the meeting.
All the officers will be attending the meeting - Jane, Suzie, Brent, and Michael. Mary - who was busy dealing with a client - did not attend the sales seminar. |
A dash can also be used to set off information at the end of a sentence.
|
We all signed the contract - finally.
|
Brackets (.....)
Use brackets ("parentheses" in US English) to lessen the impact of related information that is added to a sentence. The added information should not be as important as the information in the sentence.
|
Mary (she only joined the company last week) decided not to go to the company barbecue.
|
Note: Use commas instead of brackets to set apart information that is about as important as the information in the sentence itself.
Brackets are also used if you give a lengthy name of a company or document, and then give the abbreviation, for example, Employees Assistance Program (EAP). The brackets should enclose the abbreviated form when it first appears. You can then refer to the abbreviated form only, without brackets, throughout the rest of the letter. This is one way you can use abbreviations in your letter and be certain your reader knows their meaning.