When would I use an
"em" dash?
Use an "em" dash to
- explain text within a
sentence
Maria's best
friend—the
woman she brought to the party—grew up in
the
house next door.
- emphasize a break or sudden thought in a
sentence
Cole bought a digital camera—or
maybe it was an iPod—with his birthday
money.
- connect introductory thoughts to the rest of a
sentence
Greeting customers, processing
transactions, cross-selling products—these
are a
bank teller's responsibilities.
When would I use an
"en" dash?
Use an
"en" dash to
- show ranges of numbers such as dates, pages,
etc.
pages
125–136
2001–2004
- replace a hyphen in a compound adjective to
connect two compound modifiers that are either open
compounds or already hyphenated
compounds
the middle school–high school
years
a
self-taught–self-motivated
student
How do I type "em" and "en" dashes?
One way is to click on Insert and select
Symbol. Then click on the Special
Characters
tab and select the dash you want. You can also
follow the directions for creating a shortcut.
Another way to create an "em" dash is by typing two
hyphens together. Note that other software programs
may have different approaches.
When should I use a hyphen?
Use a hyphen to
- connect compound words or phrases that come
before a noun
a full-time
employee
a high-quality
appliance
Note that in most cases,
hyphens are not used when the words follow the
noun. Refer to a dictionary for the correct spelling of
compound words or to a reliable business writing
resource for hyphenation guidelines (see the list of
resources below).
an employee who is full
time
an appliance that is high
quality
- connect compound numbers
twenty-six
cars
one-third of the
class
- show a word break at the end of a line
Renaldo visited the history museum yes-
terday afternoon.
Should I put a space before and after dashes and
hyphens?
As a rule, do not use spaces on either side of dashes
and hyphens; however, some people like the look of
the spaces—especially with
dashes—and will use
them. The important thing is to be consistent.
If you want to explore more in-depth guidelines for
using dashes and hyphens,
I recommend four of my favorite resources:
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