Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[missdaredevil]

To anyone:

Is there anything wrong with the sentence below or any suggestion?

I've already named my* future dog*s-Joey and Rabbi.

Thanks

[Teacher Dian]

Dear Miss Daredevil,

If you spoke the sentence, it would be all right.

If you wrote it, it's a little more awkward to read. It might be better to write, "I've already named the dogs I plan to get in the future 'Joey' and 'Rabbi'."

For more clarity, add some dashes:
"I've already named the dogs I plan to get in the future-- 'Joey' and 'Rabbi'."

All the best,
Teacher Dian

[river1974]

Dear Dian:

Would you please explain the difference between "dash" and "hyphen"? As I know, "dash" functions like a "colon", while "hyphen" is used for connecting two individual words, for example, "non-smoking" and "sub-zero". Is that right? Frankly speaking, I couldn't tell the difference between them since they look very similar to each other in shape. But is it important to distinguish between "dash" and "hyphen"?

Many thanks.