En dash vs em dash

2. In printed publications, break the line after an en dash, not before. Recall that en dashes are slightly shorter in length than em dashes. Both of these can be found by on MS Word by going to: Insert, Symbol and then selecting the dash you require. But if it pushes a single character to the next line, such as part of a number range or a score, keep the elements together. Isn’t that fun? Now you have a conversation starter for cocktail parties. 83 Million coins and a max supply of 18. If you are uncertain how to insert an en dash symbol, you can use a hyphen instead. We use an em dash, the longer dash, a different way. An em dash is a typographic dash that is supposed to be as wide as a lowercase "m" character. The keystroke for an em-dash is Option+Shift+Hyphen (PC: Ctrl+Alt+Num–). The novelty of the em dash makes it perfect for text that you want to stand out. In this short video tutorial, Microsoft MVP Heather Ackmann discusses the differences between the hyphen, en dash, and em dash, as well as how to insert these different symbols in Microsoft Word — is the HTML decimal entity for em dash. Carole Raschella on May 06, 2013 7:41 pm. e. In the battle of the em dash vs. En Dashes and Em Dashes. En dash. En dash definition, a dash one en long. This was a big debate between my editor and me when I was writing my book. En dashes are used to: designate a range, such as inclusive page numbers, years, dates, and so forth. Dashes can be used to add parenthetical statements or comments in much the same way as you would use brackets. The first example above uses the en-dash. An en dash is half the length of an em dash. The next major change we need to discuss is dashes. See more. on laptops and 3. En dashes — dashes that are the width of the character n — have You can use an em dash, en dash or hyphen to separate items in a sentence. Here are some example from Haruki Murakami's After Dark: Komugi comes in and takes something from one of the cartons piled against the wall—a fresh bathrobe to replace the one from room 404. En Dash: A Quick and Simple Guide. People sometimes use the terms hyphen and dash interchangeably, but there’s a subtle distinction. Using the En Dash to Indicate Spans of Time or Ranges of Numbers. The 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. In general, I don’t recommend using em dashes in academic writing, particularly in APA style. Dashes. They are multi-purpose, and came in a variety of sizes. Dashes are an oft-ignored spice of writing. En Dash vs Em Dash. An en dash is larger than a hyphen and about one-half the size of an em dash. Note that this only works on windows. Define em dash. Record Macros and Assign Them to Shortcut Keys. Unnecessary to say, it is a headache to move between keyboard and mouse when you type large texts. Desktop publishing professionals know when to use an en dash vs. When should she use a dash and how is it different from a colon? Dashes and Drama. The most common mistake I see in resumes is having a mix of hyphens and en dashes in the resume date ranges. Dash vs. Wikipedia uses four: the hyphen (sometimes called the hyphen-minus), the minus sign, the en dash, and the em dash. Figuring out whether to use an en dash, em dash, 2 em dashes, or even (gasp!) 3 em dashes can be confusing. There are other methods for inserting the dashes - these are covered in the program itself. In the massive digitization project, Google Books treats hyphens, en dashes, and em dashes as the same character, translating them all In modern fonts, the length of the en dash is not standardized, and the en dash is often more than half the width of the em dash. False. If one would express the particular punctuation mark as to, as in 1911 to 2011, then use the en dash. You use a longer dash to separate information and a shorter dash to link words. The dash usually separates words; the hyphen connects them. Dashes are stronger than a comma and less formal than brackets. A Crash Course in Dashes Monday, March 25th, 2019. Essentially, it is a form of pause punctuation that can take the place of a comma, a semicolon. Em Dash vs. A. Example: mother-in-law. The en dash is used to express a range of values or a distance: The gremlin was around 50–60 years old, we could tell this from the state of Her use of the em dash obliquely posits writing as an elaborative act, and in many of her poems the em transforms what would otherwise be somewhat inert, though great, common meter into something alive to itself, process-oriented. But if you miss an n-dash while you type – or if you want to add one later when editing text – it is not easy to get the dash that you want. Place the text cursor after the Em dash or En dash, then press the Backspace key. Alternatively, in MS Word, you can type two hyphens together to get an Em Dash. The hyphen (-), en dash (-), and em dash (—) each play a Styles for em and en rules and the textual dash — em rule – textual dash – en rule. There are in fact two different dashes: the en-dash is the same width as a letter N, while the em-dash is the same width as the letter M. There are three types of dashes in the world: Hyphens: used to join compound words. An en-dash is used without a space to show a period of time or an interval; you would use an en-dash rather than a hyphen in 1987-89. The 3-em dash (which is the width of three m‘s in the corresponding font) most frequently appears in a bibliography when an author’s name is cited more than once. 1% in the last 24 hours. Go ahead and use a hyphen instead of an en dash. In formal writing you should use the bracket rather than the dash as a dash is considered less formal. Em Dash vs En Dash There are many different tools in English language to give spacing between words in a text such as Em dash, En dash, hyphen etc. En dashes are an important part of punctuation, especially when you are writing about numbers and ranges. Never been able to figure that one out. The en dash (–) gets its name because it's the same width as the letter N. Specifically it is referencing the Unicode code point 8212 which represents an em dash. Don’t do that—it’s an­other type­writer habit. Word will substitute an em dash How to Type a Dash. There are at least eight different horizontal dash-like characters of varying lengths defined in Unicode. Also, the em dash may serve as a sort of bullet point, as in this to-do list: —wash the car —walk the dog —attempt to explain em and en dashes. The em dash draws a reader’s attention, partly because of the physical separation that the longer dash creates and partly because these dashes appear less frequently than hyphens and en dashes. As a "phrase marker" – a kind of alternative to the parentheses – the en dash should have space either side. You can also record macros for inserting dashes and assign those macros to key combinations. Most people use the shortest form of a dash, the hyphen, for everything-not realizing that there are actually three different dash lengths and that each has a specific usage (like the em dash in this sentence). En dashes (–) are longer than a hyphen but shorter than a regular (or em) dash. 6 Questions True or FalseThe en-dash is longer than the em-dash. (Or was it simply a matter of tee spaces, en spaces, and em spaces?) Gosh, I used to all know this back when I did actual physical typography – John Laudun Jan 9 '13 at 3:45 The most flexible and versatile punctuation mark—the Em Dash. Inserting an en-dash in Latex. With computers, you can format or insert an em-dash easily and it’s used to indicate an interruption within dialogue, or to emphasize a certain phrase. Now there’s a blog for a fake grammarian to How to create a nonbreaking en dash? - posted in Ask for Help: Dear Friends, I searched both the AutoHotkey Help and this forum in vain for information about whether I can create a nonbreaking en dash with AutoHotkey. Hyphen Vs. The two most common dashes are the en dash (–) and the em dash (—). Note how dashes subtly change the tone of the following sentences: Examples: You are the friend, the only friend, who offered to help me. Word will automatically convert the hyphen into an en dash. It's called Em-n-en. When you use AutoCorrect Options, you can also click Stop Automatically Creating Dashes, or click Control AutoCorrect Options to open the AutoCorrect dialog box. Some people resort to using two hyphens to appropriate a dash (--), but this looks unprofessional. The dash, slash, ellipses, and brackets are marks that serve specific purposes as indicated below. Em Dash This is the dash that was used all throughout the dash section of this packet. En Dashes: a dash that is the width of a letter “n. It is the longest dash, compared to a hyphen or an en dash. 9 Million coins. It can also be used for clarity in forming complex compound adjectives. Dashes come in two sizes—the en dash and the em dash. First, when would you use an en dash? The em dash draws a reader’s attention, partly because of the physical separation that the longer dash creates and partly because these dashes appear less frequently than hyphens and en dashes. NOTE: There are two different kinds of dashes, the Em Dash, and the En Dash. Typewriters only have one—the hyphen. ” (in Thinking With Type) Robert Bringhurst: “The em dash is the nineteenth-century stand­ard, still pre­scribed by many edit­or­ial style books, but the em dash is too long for use with the best text faces. The entire point of this program is to allow a user to quickly insert an em/en dash by typing ==-(Em dash) or --= (En dash). Then en-dash (–) is Compose dash dash period, rather than Four ways to insert an em dash in a Word document. Note that this is different from the form in Nicholas’ comment which is indeed usually rendered with an En dash . On the keyboard. True. The Hyphen. No spaces are used around dashes. It is a punctuation mark. The widths of en and em dashes have also been specified as being equal to those of the upper-case letters N and M respectively, and at other times to the widths of the lower-case letters. The en dash is often used to indicate spans of time or ranges of numbers. The en dash (–) is about half as wide. The en dash is used to represent a span or range of numbers, dates, or time. en dash vs em dash not every keyboard has an numeric keypad, e. How can I add an en dash to a plot in R? Edit: My mistake, you wanted an en-dash, not an em-dash. An em dash is about the length of the letter m, and an en dash (surprise) is the length of the letter n. The en-dash (–) is shorter than an em-dash (—) and longer than a hyphen (-). Two em dashes can be used instead of commas in a sentence, to provide a more emphatic tone. em dash, and this knowledge is a great way to impress a client. Some of our required fonts exaggerate the difference, and occasionally this results in negative signs of varying size in our technical documentation. The en-dash in this usage is always surrounded by spaces. 0 to edit Framemaker documents that have been converted ("Save As" I believe, not "Print to PDF") to PDF files. 0 browsers"). Don’t replace the second em-dash (as some tend to) with a comma or semicolon. Few keyboards have a dash, but a word processor can usually produce one in one way or another. En dashes should be used for number ranges 34–42 without space. Additionally, while spaces should be used around en dashes (e. To the untrained eye, an em dash could easily be mistaken for an en dash or even a hypen. And as an indicator of interruption, like thi— The em-dash has history: in the day of the typewriter, an em-dash was represented by double hyphens amounting to the width of a capital “M” from the keyboard. For example, when writing about a specific range of years or pages. 6. The em dash can be used to introduce dialogue — Like this? — Yes, like this. Chicago on em dashes and ellipses. In Word, however, the em dash is twice as wide as the en dash. The en dash has other uses; check your preferred style guide such as The Chicago Manual of Style or the AP Stylebook. Em and en rules are sometimes called em and en dashes. 1 The dash [ – ] should not be confused with the shorter hyphen [ - ]. Em dashes are especially common in informal writing, such as personal emails or blogs, but it’s best to Dash is a punctuation mark that is used in two different forms called em dash and en dash. Em dash: This dash is an em long. So in 9-point type, an em dash is 9 points wide, while in 24-point type the em The en-dash (--) has two frequent usages: As a modern punctuation mark for parenthetical phrases. Repeat listings by that same author feature a 3-em dash rather than the author’s name again. Note that there is no space added on either side of an em dash. Not too many people will quibble, and there will be no loss of meaning. Em Dash. An en dash with a space before and after may be used instead of an em dash in running text. Things have changed a lot in the last year—mainly for the better. We’re (mostly) Team AP. Conscientious writers know how to use the en-dash correctly; conscientious readers will appreciate the writer’s effort to effectively distinguish between the marks. To mimic an Em dash, type 2015 where you want the dash to appear. Tags: COPY EDITING, EN DASH VS EM DASH, GRAMMAR Posted in this week's podcast | No Comments » An em dash is one-em wide—the width of the point size of the typeface. And the guidelines for using them aren't especially tricky. The hyphen, the em dash and the en dash are the straight arrows among punctuation marks, an otherwise fairly curvaceous lot. An en- dash is half as Wide as an em-dash. Word formats the hyphens as an en dash ( - ), which is shorter than an em dash. Either the en dash or the em dash may be used as a bullet at the start of each item in a bulleted list. ” Though some of the finer points in the rules are complex, their basic applications are clear-cut and their misuse easily identifiable. Then select the number you just typed, press Alt+X to convert it to a dash (it may initially be invisible), and change the font for the dash to Tahoma to make it show up correctly. For an em dash, the combination is Shift+Option+Hyphen. Price is up 1. It can also be entered using its Unicode: U+2013. em dash synonyms, em dash pronunciation, em dash translation, English dictionary definition of em dash. The em dash is made on most PCs by holding down the ALT key while typing 0151 on the keypad ( — ). Two em dashes can also replace a pair of parentheses, for a less formal and less subtle tone. It is generally used in place of "to" for A hyphen is usually very short (it has its own Unicode character, but you can use the hyphen-minus instead because it looks the same), a minus is of the same width as the decimal digits (and is sometimes a little bit higher than the others), an en-dash takes approximately the width of the letter “N” or “n”, and an em-dash takes Examples include op-in, tax-free, one-third, and so on. Em Dash ( — ) The em dash is the longest of the three dashes and lines in the English language. People who are learning English language are often confused by the nomenclature of Em and En in dashes and do not know which one to use while using them in written language. An em dash might set off a phrase at the end of a sentence—like The em dash, em rule, or mutton (—) is longer than an en dash. ) Typography We use em-dashes to add emphasis to the size of the car. Notwithstanding its versatility, the em dash is best limited to two appearances per sentence. Em dash In Microsoft Publisher 2013, when I type a dash (-) it changes it to an em dash (—) - anyway to change this from happening? inserted into a sentence. All well and good, but when I type a dash with no space before or after, my word processor leaves it as a hyphen. Each functions quite differently from the others. If your keyboard can't produce a dash, you will have to resort to a hyphen as a stand-in. The En-dash, Em-dash and Hyphen (also ndash and mdash or n-dash and m-dash) The use of dashes is inconsistent in lots of writing – regardless of how ‘professional’ the writers are. an ellipses. As part of our online proofreading services at ProofreadNow, we often correct dash length in documents. The difference between a colon and a dash is pretty subtle: they can both serve to introduce a related element after the sentence, but a dash is a stronger and more informal mark than a colon. en dash vs em dash. It's easy to use the hyphen, em dash and en dash (also known as n dash and m dash, or n-dash and m-dash) to make your writing flow better. There are some pages where a non-ascii en-dash or em-dash appears, but some browsers don't support these, especially the em-dash, typically (and rather unhelpfully) replacing the dash with a question mark. Some authors in the company for which I copyedit have been using an en dash, rather than a hyphen, for the negative sign in negative numbers, i. And create an em dash by one of two ways: leave spaces before and after a hyphen - like this, or type two consecutive hyphens--like this. M-dash (or ’em dash’) Automatically created in Word when you type “something–something” (word-hyphen-hyphen-word). Em Dash The dash, technically known as an em dash (to distinguish it from the en dash, described below), is used to indicate parenthesis when more emphasis is intended than indicated by a comma or a pair of parentheses. Also, why the en-dash in “Olivia Newton–John”? As far as I know this always uses a hyphen (I’m assuming that it’s a name). ) Em dashes are used in creating breaks in sentences, between two separate thoughts. In scholarly writing, ideas should be expressed in as linear an order as possible. The hyphen is the shortest of the three and is used most commonly to combine words (making compounds such as “well-being” and “advanced-level,” for example) and to separate numbers that are not inclusive (phone En Dash vs. En dash In ranges. en-dash ( - only ever an em-dash Years ago, When type was set on tittle metal sticks, an em was a square stick so an em-dash would as Wide as the is high. En Dashes. When two hyphens (--) are placed between two numbers, LibreOffice changes them into an em dash, as it does between two words. " Subscribe to Grammar Underground. An em dash is the longest commonly used dash. . 3. Dash (DASH) price for today is $165. The Microsoft default for a dash is called the ‘textual 7 Responses to “En Dashes Clarify Compound Phrasal Adjectives” John on June 17, 2011 10:53 am. Hyphens, en dashes, and em dashes. To form a true em dash on most PCs hold down the ALT key while typing 0151 on the numerical pad on the right side of your keyboard ( — ). Hyphen: This is the character used to hyphenate words at the end of a line and to create compound words. Finally, a client asked about the use of the em dash, so I prepared this as an answer and included the hyphen, just to be thorough. , –3 versus -3. All three have very specific usage rules. this still only works in Word. Dash . The problem with the simplistic rules of using an em dash or en dash as presented here is that on a computer screen the dash may randomly appear at the end or start of a line, depending on how lines wrap as the text is edited, or the width of the browser window when the text is presented on the Web. Oh yes, you do. ) In these situations, en dashes must have a single space on each side. There are two similar but distinct punctuation marks called dashes : the en dash and the em dash . The problem is that sometimes it is difficult to know exactly when to use an em dash (—) or an en dash (–). Windows (Alt 1050), Mac (Shift Option -), Unicode (U+2013) HTML (–). The code is (approximately): public const char enDash = (char)0x2013; public const char emDash = (char)0x2014; This question is actually (kind of) wrong – typing two hyphens typically gives an en dash, and em dashes are often created with three hyphens. My own favorite use of the em dash is for elaboration, similar to the way many writers use colons. Besides the regrettable effect of proclaiming that you do not understand the difference, more importantly, this mistake often leads to ambiguity and confusion. This is because the only difference (visually) between those three characters is their width. The correct use of em and en#section6 THE DASH, SLASH, ELLIPSES, AND BRACKETS. The EM dash (—) is a punctuation mark that is used is the place of commas, parentheses or colons. the en dash it is critical that writers are aware of the major differences between the two punctuation marks and that they ensure they use them correctly and in the appropriate format in their written documents. The En Dash. Let's take a look at the different types of dashes and when to use these little punctuation marks. How and When to Use HYPHENS, DASHES, & ELLIPSES B. Itemization mark. The hyphen, em-dash and en-dash crop up all the time while you’re using Microsoft Word, but most of us don’t know why and we use the different dashes Home › Forums › General InDesign Topics › Em-dash, En-dash, hyphen, ellipsis This topic contains 7 replies, has 7 voices, and was last updated by Peter Kahrel 1 year, 3 months ago. The issue isn't the spaces, nor is it non-ASCII en-dashes and em-dashes. For Windows users, Alt + 0150 is an en dash, Alt + 0151 is an em dash For Mac OS users, option + – is an en dash, shift + option + – is an em dash. For more than half a century, the MLA’s editorial practice, initially under the guidance of Claire Cook, has included three distinct preferences when it comes to forming compounds using en dashes and hyphens. You can also use a dash on its own to mark a break in a sentence – try it instead of a semicolon. And I suggest that in MonoT, En Dash should be showed in 1 half-width length not 1 1 full-width length to distinguish it from Em Dash. The Em Dash can be typed as two En Dashes. It’s also important that when you set off a phrase using em-dashes that you used one em-dash immediately after the noun the phrase is describing and one immediately after the phrase. I have a huge document and am searching to find proper use of hyphens vs En or Em dashes, but when I search for either hyphen, En-dash (Alt+0150) Em-dash (Alt+0151), my search results include all three. While em-dash is long, en-dash is the shorter of the two. One em is the same length as the font's height (which is typically measured in points). First, neither an em dash nor an en dash should be confused with the hyphen (-), which is used to join compound words together. True or FalseThe em-dash can take the place of commas En dash – Em dash — Hyphens get their own section: see To hyphenate or not to hyphenate? En dash. The EM dash is sometimes confused with the EN dash (–) or the hyphen (-), but it serves a separate purpose. – Arthur2e5 May 18 '16 at 17:30 Greetings, I use Acrobat 6. ” Used to show ranges. The em-dash is the longer version, named em-dash as it should be the same length as the letter 'm 2 Ask the Editor: When do you use an em dash? When do you use an ellipsis? This is a column by Kira McFadden [jbox]Amanda Taylor asks: When writing dialogue I sometimes have trouble knowing what is the right punctuation when it comes to random changing of thought while speaking, stammering, or a brief pause vs. An em-dash takes the place of a basic dash–a break in a sentence that was noted with a double hyphen in typing or rough manuscript. In fact, all three marks of punctuation—the semicolon, the colon, and the dash—can be effective when used appropriately. Type has three—the hyphen, the en dash, and the em dash. The character is called an em dash because it is one em wide, a length that varies depending on the font size. The Dash. Em Dash vs En Dash. Em Dash The em dash gets its name because of its length. From shortest to longest, the hierarchy of dashes would be as follows: hyphen, en dash, em dash. Use an en dash to separate out a phrase within a sentence – perhaps to break up the text, or add emphasis – instead of commas or brackets. In general use on the internet, the em dash usually ends up having maybe one pixel of space around it, resulting in the letters on either side being right up against the dash. How to Use a Dash in an English Sentence. Em Dash: The en dash is longer than a hyphen but shorter than an em dash (the normal dash). (The width of the em-dash can vary from font to font. When you know how to use a dash correctly, it can be a handy piece of punctuation. En dash definition is - a dash that is one-half the length of an em dash. Highlight the Em dash or En dash using your mouse, then press the Delete key. An easy way to insert an n-dash or m-dash in Microsoft Word: An en dash surrounded by spaces achieves the same effect as an em dash with no spaces, but typographically it is less disruptive. Experienced writers know that these marks are not interchangeable. Em dash . Some blog platforms, such as WordPress, automatically convert a double hyphen to an em The en-dash, which is shorter than an em-dash and longer than a hyphen, is used to indicate a range of values, such as a span of time or numerical quantities (similar to using the words “to” and “from”); for example, 9 AM – 5 PM, Monday – Friday or ages 5 – 8. 14 Punctuation Marks Everyone Needs to Master 11. 01 with a 24-hour trading volume of $568,759,061. So is the em dash (—), more often called the long dash, or sometimes just the dash. In fact, dashes are different from hyphens, and they have a variety of forms. Think of a colon as part of the sentence that just ambles along. Here’s what the em dash is all about. The en dash is the more common of the two. Step 1: Record macros for inserting en and em dashes. Currently I keep these characters saved in a text file, and copy-paste them whenever I need them. It is used to separate clauses, concepts, or thoughts, rather than words or syllables. It is twice the length of an en dash. SINCE 1828. this is logically wrong because en-dash and em-dash are punctuation marks and not arithmetic operators, 2. This is the typographer’s decision to make. An en dash is a mid-sized dash (longer than a hyphen but shorter than an em dash) that is mostly used to show ranges in numbers and dates. Em dash In Microsoft Publisher 2013, when I type a dash (-) it changes it to an em dash (—) - anyway to change this from happening? If my typographer's memory serves me, the first item in the list above is not known as a hyphen but as a tee dash. However, it often needs to be used as an en-dash, and em-dash or a minus sign, particularly in situations — like this forum for instance — where there is no easy way of generating special characters: A hyphen has no spaces on either side and, since the character prints as a hyphen anyway, you need to nothing: it comes ready-made. An issue about the em dash - English Only forum comma or a em-dash? - English Only forum Dash [em dash] - English Only forum dash/emdash/em rule before the names of authors in stories: —O Henry - English Only forum Dashes (em dash) (en dash) - English Only forum Ellipsis or em dash - English Only forum Em Dash - English Only forum em dash If you have ever wondered what an en dash is or how to use it, look no further. If you want to use en dashes instead of hyphens, insert a space before the hyphen. The hyphen, the em dash, and the en dash are all horizontal marks of varying lengths. The problem is that I use the Chicago style for all my work, which stipulates that an en, not em, dash should be used between numbers (like pages numbers and dates). (This is a matter of graphic design rather than orthography. An en dash (–) is used when writing about a range of things that are related. There are also predicate functions that return true it the character is a single quote, double quote or a dash. Type two hyphens with no space between them like–this. Latex will automatically turn it into an en-dash. Turns out the em dash (also known as an m dash, m-rule, or, in the grammatical slang circles, “mutton,” and I am not making that up) is just that extended dash you see when there is a break in narration or conversation. Then, click Undo Dash. There are two types of dashes: the en dash and the em dash. Learn how to type an em dash, an en dash, and a hyphen in Google Docs whether you're using Chrome OS, Desktop Chrome, Android, or iOS. The dash (—), also called the em dash, is the long horizontal bar, much longer than a hyphen. Not quite OCTOBER 200 s LETTERS as narrow as a hyphen, but uncomfortably close. How do you type an em dash? The hyphen, double hyphen, and minus sign are encroaching on the territory of the em dash with increasing frequency in recent years. I always see the em dash (—) in fiction writing. The em dash is the widest. See AP vs. There are many ways to use dashes in writing. The hyphen is used to connect words that function together to create a joint concept, such as "editor-in-chief" or "last-minute". EN dash (–) Rule #1: Use an en dash (the shorter dash symbol or character in most word processing programs) to show a range of dates, numbers, or locations. Dash (DASH) Dash (DASH) is a cryptocurrency or a form of digital asset. Auto-suggest helps you quickly narrow down your search results by suggesting possible matches as you type. It’s often an explanation that replaces parentheses, especially when you want to emphasize abruptness. It is slightly longer than a hyphen. Dashes are only used in informal writing; in academic and business writing, use parentheses, commas, or colons instead. I’m pretty sure that British English sometimes (?) uses en-dash in places where you’ve cited em-dash. The em dash is longer than the hyphen or the en dash. ASCII chars only encode to decimal range 0 - 127, and em dash is not a character that can be represented by ASCII encoding. my previous sentence), em dashes are used without spaces—like this. True or FalseThe em-dash can take the place of commas What is an en-dash? The en-dash is distinct from the hyphen and the em-dash. 5. An em dash is a dash that is the width of an M. An em dash is the width of a capital M. B. Though en dashes (–) and em dashes (—) are sometimes confused or even used interchangeably, they have distinct purposes. en dash synonyms, en dash pronunciation, en dash translation, English dictionary definition of en dash. In Typography for Lawyers, Matthew Butterick points out that writers can use en dashes to “indicate a range of values” or to show “a connection or contrast between pairs of words. Info AP style is to add spaces around the em dash; Chicago style is without spaces. Depending on the context, the em dash can take the place of commas, parentheses, or colons—in each case to slightly different effect. Click Insert. The result can be pretty unappetizing. You know why you're here? You want to know the difference between an en dash and an em dash and how to use them. The dash (–) is used to set off additional material within a sentence, often in order to emphasize it, to set off appositives that contain commas, or to indicate missing words. TechRepublic may earn a commission from the products and So – an em-dash ([char] 0x2014) or an en-dash ([char] 0x2013) become a simple dash (0x02d). In Microsoft Works, the en dash [ – ] and em dash [ — ] are created from the Special Character option in the Insert menu. The practice of using two hyphens for a dash is a holdover from the days of typewriters. En and em dashes are of­ten ap­prox­i­mated by typ­ing two or three hy­phens in a row (--or ---). All Free. En Dash vs. Hyphen vs. Today we focus on en dashes. Here are the basics. For this parenthetical usage, the em-dash is more common in US typography, while the en-dash is more common in UK typography. An em dash might set off a phrase at the end of a sentence—like While the hyphen is easy to find on a keyboard, it's much more difficult to find the dash, let alone choose between the en-dash and the em-dash. Hyphen In lots of scientific writing—both published and unpublished—I see authors use hyphens where they intend to use an em-dash. It is best to limit the use of em The dash (--) The dash is longer than a hyphen. In non-fiction, it's often used in the middle of a quote to indicate some portion of the original statement has been removed. (See En dash versus em dash below. Word also has shortcuts for typing en-dash and em-dash with the minus on the numeric keypad, but 1. THE DASH. The problem with hyphens arises when they are used where another mark—the en dash or em dash—might be more appropriate. It can replace commas, parentheses, or colons, depending on the context of the sentence. Em Dash (—) Em Dash gets its name from the width of it, which is roughly one ‘M’ long or two ‘N’ long (Em is a typographical unit twice the length of en—and almost the length of capital 'M'). Publisher Dash vs. ” Range of values. Span or range of numbers . Mari says, "She told me he took everything—her handbag, her money, her cellphone. It is about the same width as the letter "M". The en dash is used when connecting ranges, and it replaces “to” in those ranges. Em dash to the rescue, if you like: "There were times when I became distracted—periods of uncertainty marked by a sense of defeat as I encountered the challenges of " You can usually use an em dash where a semicolon would go, and a colon, too, in general writing. The em dash is perhaps the most versatile punctuation mark. So – an em-dash ([char] 0x2014) or an en-dash ([char] 0x2013) become a simple dash (0x02d). Define en dash. Em Dash (—) The em dash has many uses. If I leave a space before and after the dash it converts it to an en dash. The em-dash has history: in the day of the typewriter, an em-dash was represented by double hyphens amounting to the width of a capital “M” from the keyboard. This also works well with kerning (see above). a long pause. Three adjacent em dashes (a 3-em dash) are used to substitute for the author's name when a repeated series of works are presented in a bibliography, as well as to indicate an entire missing word in the text. What happened yesterday? I found a source that seemed authoritative and went with it. Get the complete details on Unicode character U+2013 on FileFormat. Em Dash—Definition. En dashes may look similar to em dashes, but they function in a much different way. 而em-dash和en-dash的生成机制是TeX的tfm中预先设定好的ligature作用得到的。这个方法省事一点。TeX用户需要的只是多敲入-即可。减号呢，也是用连字符可以输入的，在TeX中会自行转换。至于混用，则就不是TeX的问题，是作者的偏好了。 Hold down the Option (Alt) key and type a hyphen for an en dash. In the character map, select Figure Dash. Alternatively, insert en-dash from the Insert>Symbol menu. I write blog posts, and I often need to type en-dash (–) and sometimes em-dash (—) in my blog posts. The em dash is used to set off a sudden shift of thought. An en dash could easily be mistaken for an em dash or even a hypen — especially to the untrained eye. Similarly, an em dash can replace a colon to provide extra emphasis on the end of the sentence. The ellipsis has a few different functions. The Chicago style of the em dash never made visual sense to me, what with not having any space around the em dash. This essay introduces the basics of hyphens, minus signs, en dashes, and em dashes in one easy lesson. The hyphen, em-dash and en-dash crop up all the time while you’re using Microsoft Word, but most of us don’t know why and we use the different dashes Two adjacent em dashes (a 2-em dash) are used to indicate missing letters in a word ("I just don't f----ing care about 3. The Publication Manual shows specific uses for hyphens, en dashes, and em dashes. The em dash (—) is typ­i­cally about as wide as a cap­i­tal H. The en dash is slightly narrow than the em dash, and the hypen is slightly narrower again. Why they are called so, is because of the fact that the type setting of em-dash is the same as that of the character m in a keyboard whereas the setting of en-dash is of the same width as that of Remove an Em or En dash. Em dash. If your Word document has an Em dash or En dash and you want to remove it, do one of the following. But it is necessary first to make the difference between a hyphen, en dash and em dash. so on page Of your current issue Continuous 2-3 Em Dash are only showed in 1 full-width length, and 4 Em Dash are only showed in 2 full-width length. em dash - WordReference English dictionary, questions, discussion and forums. The en dash (–) is slightly wider than the hyphen (-) but narrower than the em dash (—). Do not put a space before or after a dash. The hyphen (-), the shortest of the three marks, is familiar (sometimes wretchedly so) to most writers. There is NEVER space before or after an em-dash. Dashes, like commas, semicolons, colons, ellipses, and parentheses, indicate added emphasis, an interruption, or an abrupt change of thought. a dash that is one-half the length of an em dash… See the full definition. In Microsoft Word, the en dash is created between alphanumeric characters by entering a space, two strokes of the dash key, and then another space. Dashes can be used to create emphasis in a sentence. The typical computer keyboard lacks a dedicated key for the en dash, though most word processors provide a means for its insertion. But that source was following the Chicago Manual of Style. g. This explanation is not intended to be exhaustive (for much more, see chapter 6 in CMOS 16), but I do hope that it helps to frame the different potential of each length of dash. Hyphens are very common in English, and the hyphen key is easy to find on the keyboard. It has a circulating supply of 8. The en-dash should always have spacing before and after. The most active exchange that is trading Dash is HitBTC. I closed font ligatures and this problem also exists. For From the Vault: Hyphens and En Dashes the MLA Way By Angela Gibson. Hopefully this is helpful! When to use hyphens, en dashes, and em dashes. Your file is not ASCII if it contains an em dash. En Dash (–) The en dash gets its name from its length as it is one ‘N’ long. If I have to create an em dash on my compact laptop, and I'm not working in software that automatically translates two dashes into an em dash (Word, Scrivener, and Google Docs will do this), I'll do one of two things: insert the two dashes in place of an em dash and do a find and replace later, or plug in an external keyboard that will allow me It seemed to me to be easier to read and more understandable written as one–twenty-fourth with the en dash between the one and twenty-fourth. En and em dashes are longer than the hyphen and are used to indicate a break in a sentence. Sharon, you’re not the only one wondering where on the keyboard I would find the em dash. It is best to limit the use of em An “en” is one-half of an “em. Client: "What are these long lines separating thoughts here in this One thing’s for sure—he doesn’t want to face the truth. Let's look at examples of dashes, the rules for using the en dash, and compare how dashes are used in writing En Dashes and Em Dashes. Use real dashes. The em dash is about the same width as the letter "M". But which one do you use? For a while I’ve been meaning to review use of the two forms of dashes: em dash and en dash