Why is there a hypen after TV and Working? Please explain
Can you turn up the TV- I can hardly hear what the actors are saying.
My mobile phone is not working- I need to charge it up.
1 answer 
Tolley divided the sentences into two by replacing the hyphen with a period. The sentences could also be corrected by replacing the hyphen (or period) with a semicolon. The semicolon is used to link two closely related, but complete independent clauses.
Your hyphens probably found their origin in something called the em-dash. Twice as long as a hyphen (give or take), the em-dash is sometimes used to replace commas or (rarely) semicolons to indicate a greater than normal pause in speech or thought ... or to emphasize something . Em-dashes are never used to replace periods. On typewriters, em-dashes were made using two hyphens "--".
My teachers told me to avoid using em-dashes until I had mastered the use of commas. Good advice.
| link comment |
answered Apr 01 '12 at 23:08
|


