Dashes and Hyphens
Horizontal lines as punctuation marks help connect, separate, or clarify ideas. In English, we have the em dash (—), the en dash (–), and the hyphen (‐). Another horizontal line is the minus sign (−), used in mathematical operations.
- Em dash: All my life I was dreaming—only now am I awake.
- En dash: We are open 2–6 p.m., Monday–Friday.
- Hyphen: All we found was a half-eaten apple.
- Minus sign: 5 − 2 = 3
Em dash
Em dashes are used to set off additional information or mark a break in a sentence. The em dash, which is about the length of the capital letter M, is longer than both the en dash and the hyphen.
- Three researchers—a senior scientist and two PhD scholars—collaborated on this project.
- There was nothing we could do—it was all over.
- I wanted to see you, but my car—it had other plans.
To type an em dash in Microsoft Word, press the Option + Shift + hyphen keys (on Mac OS). Or simply type two hyphens one after the other, type the word that is supposed to appear after the em dash, and press Space—the hyphens magically turn into an em dash. The final, foolproof way to type an em dash in Word is to go to the Insert menu, choose Symbol, click the Special Characters tab, highlight the em dash, and click Insert.
En dash
An en dash is used mainly to denote a range. It is also sometimes used in place of the word to. About the length of the capital letter N, it is shorter than an em dash but longer (and thinner) than a hyphen.
- The survey was conducted among people aged 30–35. (no spaces around the en dash)
- This book discusses scientific discoveries made in the period 1650–1800.
- Brazil beat Spain 4–3.
- I met him on the Amsterdam–Dubai flight.
In British usage and in news copy, a spaced en dash is generally used in place of an em dash to set off explanatory text.
The really amazing thing is that the skywave effect is not stable – and scientists still don’t fully understand it.
— “The odd way eclipses affect radio,” BBC Future (October 6, 2023)
To type an en dash in Microsoft Word, press the Option + hyphen keys (on Mac OS). Or go to the Insert menu, choose Symbol, click the Special Characters tab, highlight the en dash, and click Insert.
Hyphen
Hyphens connect words that together describe another word or form a compound word. By showing how words are connected in a sentence, a hyphen can help the reader follow along more easily. Hyphens are shorter than em dashes and en dashes.
- a well-known writer
- blue-green algae
- a half-eaten apple
- a 10-mile-long lake
- a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity
- a walk-in clinic
- a rash of break-ins
- state-of-the-art facilities
A hyphen may also be used instead of an en dash to denote a range in some styles (such as AP style, followed in US journalism).
- 250-300 participants
- the period 1650-1800
- 2-4 players
Minus sign
The minus sign (instead of a hyphen or an en dash) is used in mathematical expressions in academic writing.
- 3 − 1 = 2
- z = x2 − y
- the graph for f(−x)
A hyphen may be used as a minus sign in informal writing. An en dash is often used in formal texts, since typographically, the minus sign and en dash look very similar: the minus sign is slightly thinner than an en dash and has a little more space around it. The minus sign does have its own Unicode character (U+2212), which is preferred for use in mathematical expressions, especially in academic writing.
To insert a minus sign in Microsoft Word, go to the Insert menu, and choose Symbol. From the Symbols subset, select Mathematical Operators, find and select the minus sign, and click Insert.