Dashes vs. Commas vs. parentheses?

Question

Occasionally I write sentences containing subparts with extra information. I never know how to block off this information from the rest of the sentence. Three ways I have seen are dashes, commas, and parentheses. For example:>When Bilbo sat down for a meal — his third of the day — he noticed the table was broken.>When Bilbo sat down for a meal, his third of the day, he noticed the table was broken.>When Bilbo sat down for a meal (his third of the day) he noticed the table was broken.Which way is correct?

Answer 1

Hello!

All three are correct. Dashes provide the longest pause, and so put the most emphasis on "his third of the day." Commas provide a somewhat shorter pause and so place a little less emphasis on the fact that it is his third meal of the day. And, you suppose correctly, parentheses puts the least emphasis on that fact.

Dashes also come in handy when much information is provided in one sentence. For example, "When Bilbo sat down for a meal -- his third of the day (all three rice and beans) -- he noticed the table was broken.

Hope this helps!