Hyphen, en dash or em dash A hyphen (-) is used to connect two words that function as a particular concept, or when linked together form a particular modifier. or: buildings constructed before World War II. It can be created by holding down the ALT key and typing 0151. I was just about to share one of your pages with a colleague, but then I noticed a bit of text that contradicts a rule about hyphens and dashes. Use the en dash to connect things related by distance. You might be wondering how to draw the line—literally—in the battle of hyphen vs dash. You can only use a hyphen to create compound words. Again, a colon would work here. On the other hand, if a guilty verdict wasn’t expected and the outcome of the trial is a surprise, an em dash may be a better tool for expressing this. I recommend changing your example. Quotation Marks. When writing dialogue or transcribing verbal communications, hyphens can be used to indicate a stammer. We recommend our users to update the browser. But, traditionally, en dashes function as a kind of super hyphen. But, remember, a compound modifier only needs a hyphen when it comes before a noun. Whichever style you choose, use it consistently throughout your document. There are six correct uses of hyphens in writing. Unfortunately, we do not have an alternative en dash solution for you. Regarding Rule 3, if the writer prefers not to, is it okay? If you do need to split a word at the end of a line, it’s best to break the word between syllables. 1. In fact, they’re not the same at all; one is mainly used to link words together, while the other mainly separates words. Typically, hyphens and dashes don’t have spaces on either side of them. One other alert reader noticed that we used an en dash instead of an em dash. En Dash: Basically the width of the letter “n” and used for series, e.g. Hyphens are covered in rules 14-26. Many thanks (and, by the way, your grammar columns are invaluable). Using a single hyphen instead of an em dash can confuse readers and make your writing look unprofessional. The en dash essentially expresses the words “between” and “and” in this case, so if you use both the words and the en dash together, you’re being redundant. A hyphen’s chief function is to merge two or more separate words. Incorrect: 300 – 325 people Here’s a trick for remembering the difference between the two dashes: En dashes are named after the letter “N” (“en” = “N”) because en dashes were the same width as a typesetter’s letter “N” (when text was printed by pressing metal blocks onto paper). The answer is A. Em dashes effectively set off parenthetical expressions. Never have I met such a lovely person—before you. First AI web content optimization platform just for writers, Although it’s the shortest of these three punctuation marks, the, When Genevieve dropped a can of tomato sauce on her toe, she shouted, “S——t.”. Remembering Jane Straus | May 18, 1954—February 25, 2011. We can also use an en dash to express a conflict, connection, or direction. Examples: We could not wait to meet them — we had missed them so much. !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod? It’s not interchangeable with other types of dashes. Is this intentional guidance or is this an error? The en dash is the Goldie Locks dash. This happens when the line doesn’t contain enough room for the entire word. Of the two, it is en-dash that is used by writer more commonly. There are two types of dashes: the em dash and the en dash. There are many examples of the use of hyphen in English language, and even the modern e-mail makes use of this wonderful punctuation mark. Long Dashes: Long dashes are used to replace commas, semicolons, colons, ellipses, and parentheses to indicate added emphasis, an interruption, or an abrupt change of thought. Inpression Editing helps businesses, professionals, and students make the best impression possible on customers, investors, hiring managers, and admissions committees. Spanning the width of the letter M, the em dash is the longest of the dashes. Basically, there was zero tolerance for grammatical errors, so everyone on board had a CMOS on their desktop. None of the above is actually correct. By using our site you agree to our privacy policy. As to the argument over whether or not an “m” is twice as wide as an “n,” it depends on the type font, I suppose. But when you’re not sure whether a compound word should have a hyphen or not, check a dictionary or style guide. Writing, grammar, and communication tips for your inbox. Slightly longer than a hyphen, the en dash is the same width as the letter N is. Em dashes strung together signify an omission. However, if you just wanted to make sure that the sentence included information about how long the furniture shipment took, it would make more sense to use commas. Standard grammar and punctuation references for expressing number ranges offer no universal agreement. In this post, we’ll give you the main differences between the hyphen vs. dash and let you know when to use which. Creating a dash is slightly more complicated and … The difference between the two dashes is subtle, but noticeable. She graduated from Marist College with a Bachelor of Arts in English and has been writing for Reader's Digest since 2017. The thing to remember when using it as a punctuation mark between words in a sentence is to use spacing on the either side when using an en-dash. But you didn’t provide a similar move for the en dash. While em-dash is long, en-dash is the shorter of the two. as one space and “m” and “w” as two spaces (“l,” “i,””!” would be a half space), you would be able to quickly calculate how much space a given word would take up. 1. ­­Find out more punctuation mistakes even smart people make. Hint: It’s 189,819 Letters Long, Do Not Sell My Personal Information – CA Residents. An en dash (–) is used when writing about a range of things that are related. I’d learned the differences years ago when I worked for a Behavioral Research Center, where writing research grant proposals were a constant and very enduring task. But, some style guides do prefer spaces before and after the em dash. Terms of Use and Privacy Policy: Legal. Of course, not all compounds contain hyphens; some are open compounds (e.g., “car wash” and “printing press”) and others are closed compounds (e.g., “bookstore” and “lifestyle”). Remember, em dashes are not interchangeable with hyphens. One method for creating a long dash on a Mac is to press and hold the Shift key, Option key, and minus (hyphen) key. Meghan Jones is a Staff Writer for RD.com who has been writing since before she could write. Hyphens are the shortest, en dashes are a bit longer, and em dashes are even longer. After consideration, we have decided to discontinue differentiating between the en and em dashes. (note: this text box does not support a true “em” dash here represented by 3 hyphens. For example, “a big, bright hotel” does not contain a compound modifier because big and bright don’t form a unit of meaning. Who emerges victorious? You can use a pair of em dashes to draw special attention to parenthetical information: You can use a single em dash like a colon to add explanatory or amplifying information, especially when the information is surprising: Em dashes can also signal a sudden interruption, particularly in dialogue: Whether or not you use spaces around your em dashes (word—word or word — word) is a matter of style. fbq('track', "PageView");

I never thought I’d settle down-until I met you. Twice as long as the en dash, the long dash can be used in place of a comma, parenthesis, or colon to enhance readability or emphasize the conclusion of a sentence. A semicolon could also be used here. Elvis Presley–style dance moves It has a special place in informal writing, where it can take the place of a comma, colon, or parenthesis. This may even be the first time you’ve heard that there are actually two types of dashes: an en dash (–) and an em dash (—). It’s stronger than a comma, but weaker than a period or semicolon. Em dashes are named after the letter “M” (“em” = “M”) because em dashes were the same width as a typesetter’s letter “M.”. Sometimes, it’s better to simply reword the phrase. • Em-dash is double the length of en-dash and is used without spacing on either sides unlike in en-dash that requires spacing on both ends. a compound word. As you can see, hyphens, en dashes, and em dashes are all horizontal lines that vary in length. Kansas City straddles the Kansas-Missouri border. In Creative Writing, hyphens help indicate a stammer or the way a character speaks. He finally answered–after taking five minutes to think–that he did not understand the question. Hyphen: This is the shortest dash and is used for compound words and non-sequential numbers, like a phone number e.g. In modern fonts, the length of the en dash is not standardized, and the en dash is often more than half the width of the em dash. Correct: 300–325 people. Just a suggestion. Examples include time spans and ranges of numbers. Thus, the main use of hyphen is to break up a word into part or to join different words to make a compound word. Unlike compound nouns and verbs, a dictionary usually won’t tell you if a compound adjective contains a hyphen. To a casual observer, both a dash as well as a hyphen are short, horizontal lines that are used to connect words or numbers in a piece of text but to someone who is a writer the difference between a dash and hyphen is very important as he makes use of both properly when required. Yes, “m” is roughly two times an “n,” but even if it weren’t, you missed the message if you didn’t get the logic of an “en-dash” being half the size of the “em-dash.” It’s merely a mnemonic device. Two consecutive em dashes indicate missing letters in a word. Filed Under: Language Tagged With: Dash, em dash, en dash, Hyphen, mdash, ndash. If you counted “b,” “d,” “n,” etc. You can also use hyphens to connect prefixes such as un and pre to capitalized words. I used to write headlines for newspapers in the Middle Ages, where you had to roughly guess the size occupied by letters in the words of the headline. For example, you could rewrite the first en dash example above like this: What you don’t want to do, however, is combine these two approaches.

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