Hyphen, En Dash, and Em Dash
If you are as lucky as I have been, you probably had a wonderful English teacher who didn’t bother to teach you the difference between the hyphen [ - ], the en dash [ – ], and the em dash [ — ]. I was pretty shocked that even in college my professors failed to correct my abhorrent uses of the hyphen. I used it for everything that warranted what I
thought
was supposed to be a hyphen, but in all reality it was almost always not a hyphen. Without further ado, I present to you, more punctuation.
Hyphen [ - ]
These bad boys are used to stick words together. This allows a string of words to modify nouns, making them a bit more descriptive in some cases. Here are a few examples:
I left the store
empty-handed
. Here, “empty-handed” means “without anything” or “with nothing” in the subject’s possession. I left the store without anything. I left the store with nothing.
Our resort is
all-inclusive
. In this case, “all-inclusive” means that everything relating to the resort is included in the price. Our resort includes everything in the price.
My
sister-in-law
owns a trucking company. The hyphens used indicated that the subject is not your actual sister, but she is your sister by law—i.e., by marriage to a sibling. It sounds more loving and inclusive than saying “my sibling’s wife” or “the wife of my sibling.”
At the zoo, there is a three-year-old elephant. An elephant at the zoo is three years old.
The cup is two-thirds full of water.
The movie was a full-length feature.
If not used, a hyphen could change the meaning of a sentence.
We have a half, rotten watermelon.
We have a half-rotten watermelon.
The first sentence implies that they have half of a rotten watermelon. The second implies that they have a watermelon that is half-rotten.
En Dash [ – ]
Though the en dash was given its name for being the same width as the letter “N” apparently, it’s not always simple for some to remember when to use it. As a short trick, remember that the en dash is used for indicating a range
in
between numbers. See what I did there?
This number range can be written using dates and times as well, but they do have to be written a certain way for the en dash to be applied.
Incorrect:
My father-in-law lived from 1920–1990.
Incorrect:
My father-in-law lived between 1920–1990.
Correct:
My father-in-law lived from 1920 to 1990.
Correct:
My father-in-law lived between 1920 and 1990.
The first two phrases are incorrect because the words
from
and
between
are included, and generally, the en dash translates as “to” or “through” in writing. While adding “to” or “through” would make sense in some examples, it’s still frowned upon to use the en dash in that fashion.
Correct:
Store hours are from 7:00AM–11:00PM, Monday–Friday.
Correct:
The teacher told us to read chapters 3–10 before class on Monday.
Correct:
During the years 2009–2020, thousands of horribly written songs were made.
There are a few other uses for the en dash, but I think the most interesting is its use with compound adjectives. This is another thing that professors should have taught me, but never did.
Correct:
My favorite time period is the pre–post-classical era.
Correct:
Mariska Hargitay is a Gracie Award–winning actress.
Correct: Our new teacher comes off as a Johann Sebastian Bach–like musician.
In the examples above, the adjectives consisted of more than one word being modified by the modifier. Here, the en dash implies that modifier is to be applied to all of the underlined words.
Em Dash [ — ]
This is one of my favorite punctuation marks due to being able to put it just about anywhere within reason. It can be used to replace parentheses, colons, and even commas for various reasons. Like its tricky friend, the en dash, the em dash was named after the letter “M” for the same reason. However, since learning something new is a bit easier with a simple reminder, thinking of the em dash as a symbol for “
M
ore words” might help remember its purpose.
When used as a replacement for the aforementioned marks, em dashes not only look better, but they also place an emphasis on the text encompassed by them. Additionally, the em dash can be used to indicate an abrupt stop or interruption within dialogue.
Kristie has been to many countries—121 to be exact—and not once has she gotten homesick.
When the battle was over, the horror-stricken nurses could only smell one thing—blood.
Guillermo always saw Vanessa—his first true love—as an angel sent to break his heart.
“I never thought I’d have to say this to my own son but—”
“Then don’t say it,” Jim interrupted. He was annoyed with his father’s criticism of his new wife.
As stated before, the em dash can be used quite freely. An author is not obligated to use the em dash, but it’s definitely a nice way to change up your writing style without being too dramatic. However, most people aren’t sure how to insert the en dash and em dash into their writing. Generally, most writing programs have a character map usually located under Insert -> Special Characters, or something similar to that. Just in case that option isn’t available to you, here are a few ways to create an en dash or em dash in various programs.
Alt Code:
On a Windows OS, hold alt and press 0150 on the number pad for an en dash or 0151 for the em dash.
Use Multiple Hyphens:
Use two hyphens [ -- ] for an en dash and three hyphens [ --- ] for an em dash. It doesn’t look as clean but most people will understand what it means.
Copy and Paste:
This one is the least convenient option, especially if you plan to use this method for an extended period of time. Simply look up the en dash or em dash via the internet and paste it into your writing.
Windows OS or Mac OS Character Map:
Not entirely convenient, but if you open the character map on your respective operating system, you’ll be able to select all sorts of special characters to insert into your writing, usually with a simple click.
Regardless of your method of choice, remember that not all punctuation is created equally! Use the em dash and en dash sparingly if possible to avoid the punctuation marks losing their worth within your writing.