How To Use Dashes Correctly

In practice many people use hyphens where they need to use dashes.

How to use dashes correctly. Em dashes are the width of you guessed it a capital m. Dashes can be used for emphasis in several ways. Use a longer em dash to join independent clauses with words like and but as or and for. The reason for using an en dash with such compounds is to send a subtle signal to the reader that the prefix belongs to the entire compound not just the first word of it. When used to extend a sentence a dash can replace a semicolon a colon or three dots used as a pause for effect.

To properly use a dash in an english sentence start by identifying which dash you should use. Definitely check what the house style or the preferred style guide has to say about en dashes. So what s the difference. It is also used for words like two thirds. Dashes are used to separate groups of words not to separate parts of words like a hyphen does.

In the microsoft office suite of applications and many others as well you can create an en dash by pressing ctrl on the number pad. Em dashes are not generally used in formal documents. Here s a hyphen and here s a dash most of us don t normally type out a dash. Firstly looking at the hyphen the default dash. To do a search and or replace the code represents the en dash.

A hyphen is used for linking words and parts of words together. En dashes are also used to connect a prefix with an open compound. When used as parentheses dashes are alternatives to brackets or commas. What s the difference between a hyphen and a dash. Place em dashes around non essential information or a list in the middle of a sentence like you would with commas.

Create an em dash by typing two hyphens without spaces between the hyphens and no spaces before or after the hyphens. It is usually used as an alternative to another type of punctuation. Generally speaking the dash does not have a unique role. A dash is a little horizontal line that floats in the middle of a line of text not at the bottom. But if you learn how to type dashes correctly it will add a more professional feel to anything you write.