COMMON ERRORS IN ENGLISH WITH SAMUEL ALIMI
It is completely baffling to observe how the mere presence of em dashes in writing, especially on social media, is now being absurdly attributed to artificial intelligence by a host of clueless netizens. In response, many content writers have become hyper-aware of their punctuation choices, all in an effort to avoid the hasty and frankly ridiculous generalization that the use of em dashes must mean a bot wrote it. What an audacious claim!
According to Miles Klee (2025), “the received opinion that the long dash is a product of generative AI that basically didn’t exist in years past is a worrying sign about public literacy: celebrated poets and philosophers from Emily Dickinson to Friedrich Nietzsche have been known to flaunt them in expressive ways, and many people serious about the craft of writing find them useful. Having no basic familiarity with it as a mark on the page is perhaps a measure of one’s limited reading.”
The reasons for these assumptions are not unfounded. It is widely believed that prior to the introduction of ChatGPT, some writers were not accustomed to using en dashes and em dashes. The AI tools frequently insert them into sentences where commas, periods or parentheses could have sufficed for human writers. While it is common for them (human writers) to utilize a variety of punctuation styles to convey their thoughts, robots tend to adhere strictly to these marks, resulting in a mechanical tone devoid of human emotion.
Despite technological efforts to detect AI-generated texts, the invention of several detectors has not been very productive, as they cannot be relied on to achieve 100% accuracy. In practice, I decided to test them with my own work written entirely without any robotic assistance, but I was taken aback when my writing was flagged. This is one of the major issues I have with people who are misguided enough to assume that every polished and flawless article, with the punctuation styles discussed in today’s article in the People’s Daily, must have been produced with the help of AI tools.
Dashes are used to replace common punctuation marks and indicate the relationship between related ideas. They signal a change in thought and connect closely related ideas in sentences. The three types of dashes are the en dash, em dash, and double hyphen. The double hyphen is less common compared to the other dashes. It is important to note that each type of dash serves a different function and should not be mixed up to prevent grammatical errors and miscommunications.
The en dash is a shorter dash that is frequently used to show connections between words in compound adjectives with multiple elements.
Below are examples provided by Grammarly (2025) on punctuation and capitalization:
Elvis Presley–style dance moves or dance moves like Elvis Presley’s
Pre–World War II buildings or buildings constructed before World War II
It can also be used to show numerical ranges.
For example, to be gainfully employed by the Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM), prospective teachers need to score between 50% –100% on their Computer-Based Test (CBT).
The em dash, classified as an artistic punctuation mark, indicates a pause or break in an idea or a sentence.
To draw attention to parenthetical information, use it this way: The lecturer—who has zero tolerance for examination malpractice—met with the Vice Chancellor yesterday.
Alternatively, the comma can be used instead of the em dashes in the above sentence: The lecturer, who has zero tolerance for examination malpractice, met with the Vice Chancellor yesterday.
To amplify a piece of information, use a single em dash: Kola entered the room, and what he found out was dreadful—his mother’s corpse.
Em dashes can also be used in dialogue for a sudden cut in: “Wait! Our father told us something—” His friend’s call came in and I forgot what he tried to say.
ASSIGNMENT
Please attempt the following questions:
A/an _________ can be used to draw attention to parenthetical information. (a) em dash (b) em dash (c) hyphen
Which of the following punctuation styles is the shortest? (a) en dash (b) em dash (c) hyphen
The ________ is classified as a relatively artistic punctuation mark that indicates a break in an idea. (a) en dash (b) em dash (c) comma
Kindly forward your answers to samueltolulopealimi@gmail.com or 07049203179 via SMS.
Names of those who answered the last questions correctly
Okere Chigozie, Phillip Solomon, Wilson Racheal, Adeyemi Abigael, Alimi Olive, Adedigba Emmanuel, Eze John, Abdullahi Nuhu, Bello Sulaimon, Bankole Richard, Yahyah Aisha, Oladunjoye Oluwafemi, Adebayo Bukola, John Solomon, Sultan Musa, Ahmed Roqeeb, Abdullahi Nuhu, and Bello Sulaimon
