Hyphens and dashes Flashcards
Hyphen
The hyphen is the shortest mark of the three and has two functions:
It joins separate words into a single word: merry-go-round, off-shore, long-established, T-shirt.
It is used to break a long word into parts so that the word can continue on another line.
En-dash
The en-dash is a bit longer than the hyphen; its length is equal to the width of the letter n, whence the name.
The n-dash simply means through. It is used for any kind of ranges, typically.
Do not use spaces before and after dashes and hyphens. The only exceptions are en-dashes used to mark a break in thought and change in sentence structure.
For desktop PC: press “ctrl+minus” on the numeric keypad (the number section on the far right of your keyboard). The trick will not work if you press the hyphen-key on the typewriter section of the keyboard.
Em-dash
The em-dash is normally twice as long as the n-dash; its length is equal to the width of the letter m, whence the name.
The em-dash is used to denote a sudden break in thought.
The em-dash can also set off a phrase that provides additional information. In formal writing, such a phrase will be normally enclosed in parentheses, set off by commas (see Rule 6 in Comma Usage), or introduced by a colon.
For desktop PC: press “alt+ctrl+minus” on the numeric keypad (the number section on the far right of your keyboard). The trick will not work if you press the hyphen-key on the typewriter section of the keyboard.
