A hyphen joins a compound (a long-awaited sequel), an en dash (–) spans a range (chapters 3–7), and an em dash (—) breaks into a sentence (The sequel—three years late—sold out in a week). So use the em dash, the long one, for an aside, an explanation or speech that is cut off, and the en dash, half as long, to mean “to” or “and”: 2019–2024, the London–Paris train, a 5–4 vote. The memory trick is in the names: an en dash is about as wide as a capital N, and N is for numbers; an em dash is about as wide as an M, and M is for more to say.
The hyphen (-) is the shortest of the three and joins words and word parts: well-known, mother-in-law, re-enter. Many writers type a hyphen for all three jobs and leave the rest to autocorrect or an editor. Below: what each dash does, how spacing varies by house style, and how to type each one.
Hyphen, en dash, em dash compared
| Mark | Looks like | Main job | Example | Unicode |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MarkHyphen | Looks like- | Main jobJoins words and word parts | Examplea well-known author, re-enter | UnicodeU+002D |
| MarkEn dash | Looks like– | Main jobMeans to or and: ranges, scores, pairings | Example1990–1999, a 3–1 win, the London–Paris train | UnicodeU+2013 |
| MarkEm dash | Looks like— | Main jobBreaks into a sentence; cuts off speech | ExampleThe plan—if it was a plan—failed. | UnicodeU+2014 |
| MarkMinus sign | Looks like− | Main jobSubtraction and negative numbers | Example−4°C, 12 − 5 = 7 | UnicodeU+2212 |
When to use an em dash
The em dash is the loudest way to set off part of a sentence. Commas keep an aside quiet, parentheses lower the voice, and dashes raise it. It has five jobs:
- A pair around an aside: The surveyor—forty years on the job—had never seen a map this wrong. Dashes beat commas when the aside already contains commas: The three finalists—Lagos, Lima and Lyon—each sent a delegation.
- One dash before an explanation or a punch line: The vote came down to one thing—parking. A colon does the same job more formally, and either can repair a comma splice.
- A break in thought: I was going to call you—actually, I'm not sure why I didn't.
- Speech that is cut off: “If you'd only listened—” “I did listen.” The dash goes inside the closing quotation mark, with no period after it. The guide to formatting dialogue covers interruptions and speech that trails off.
- Before the source of a quotation on its own line, as under an epigraph: —Mary Shelley, Frankenstein.
True!—nervous—very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad?
The narrator insists he is sane, and the dashes give him away. Each one is a caught breath or a restarted thought, which is the em dash's natural effect: it makes prose sound spoken.
Four rules keep dashes readable:
- Close the pair. A dash that opens an aside mid-sentence needs a second dash to close it. A comma can't close what a dash opened.
- Drop the comma. A dash replaces a comma; it doesn't sit next to one.
- Keep the aside's own punctuation inside. A question mark or exclamation point that belongs to the aside stays within the pair: The landlord—did anyone ever meet him?—kept the deposit.
- Ration them. The Microsoft Writing Style Guide warns that too many dashes interrupt the flow and make sentences long and complex. One pair per sentence, and few per page, keeps each one noticeable.
When to use an en dash
The en dash is a connector. It nearly always stands for to, through or and:
- Ranges of numbers, dates and times: pages 112–140, 1914–1918, ages 6–11, Monday–Friday.
- Scores and votes: a 3–1 win, a 5–4 decision.
- Pairings of equal partners: the London–Paris train, a mother–daughter business, the Lincoln–Douglas debates. The 18th edition of the Chicago Manual of Style (2024) applies this to compound names of two or more people, as in Epstein–Barr virus; a single hyphenated name keeps its hyphen.
- Compounds with an open compound on one side, in Chicago style: pre–Civil War, post–World War II. The en dash shows that pre attaches to all of Civil War, not just to Civil.
Don't mix the dash with words. Merriam-Webster notes that an en dash in a range already means “up to and including,” so it needs no from or between. Write from 2019 to 2024, between 2019 and 2024 or 2019–2024, but not from 2019–2024.
A hyphen often stands in for the en dash, especially in ranges; Merriam-Webster notes that a hyphen often does the en dash's job between numbers and dates. If your style guide asks for en dashes, use them every time. If it doesn't, a hyphen in 1990-1999 won't confuse anyone.
Spacing: closed or spaced dashes
Whether a dash takes spaces is a house-style decision, not a rule of grammar, and publishers disagree:
| Style | Common in | The break-in dash | Looks like |
|---|---|---|---|
| StyleChicago Manual of Style | Common inUS book publishing | The break-in dashEm dash, no spaces | Looks likethe plan—if it was one—failed |
| StyleMicrosoft Writing Style Guide | Common inSoftware documentation | The break-in dashEm dash, no spaces | Looks likethe plan—if it was one—failed |
| StyleMost newspapers | Common inNews copy | The break-in dashEm dash, a space each side | Looks likethe plan — if it was one — failed |
| StyleMuch British publishing | Common inUK books and press | The break-in dashEn dash, a space each side | Looks likethe plan – if it was one – failed |
In a simple range the en dash is normally closed up: 1990–1999. If you use the British spaced en dash for asides, keep simple ranges closed so the two jobs stay distinct.
If a publisher, journal or client has a style guide, it decides. If nobody does, follow the custom of the shelf you're writing for: closed em dashes for American books and journals, spaced em dashes for news copy, spaced en dashes for a British audience. Then write the choice on your style sheet. A manuscript with closed em dashes on page 3 and spaced hyphens on page 30 looks unedited, whichever system is right.
How to type each dash
| Where you're typing | En dash (–) | Em dash (—) |
|---|---|---|
| Where you're typingMac | En dash (–)Option + hyphen | Em dash (—)Option + Shift + hyphen |
| Where you're typingWindows, with a numeric keypad | En dash (–)Hold Alt, type 0150 on the keypad | Em dash (—)Hold Alt, type 0151 on the keypad |
| Where you're typingWord for Windows | En dash (–)Ctrl + minus on the numeric keypad | Em dash (—)Ctrl + Alt + minus on the numeric keypad |
| Where you're typingPhone and tablet keyboards | En dash (–)Hold the hyphen key, pick the second-longest dash | Em dash (—)Hold the hyphen key, pick the longest dash |
| Where you're typingHTML | En dash (–)– | Em dash (—)— |
| Where you're typingLaTeX, or Markdown with Pandoc's smart typography | En dash (–)-- (two hyphens) | Em dash (—)--- (three hyphens) |
No keypad? On Windows, the Windows key plus the period key opens the emoji panel, whose symbols section includes both dashes. On a Mac, Control-Command-Space opens the Character Viewer. In Google Docs, use Insert > Special characters and search for “dash.” Many word processors, Word among them, also turn two typed hyphens into a dash as you type, so check that you got the dash you meant. On paper proofs, editors mark the dashes with an N or an M; the proofreading marks guide shows the symbols.
The 2-em and 3-em dashes
Two longer dashes survive from traditional typesetting. The 2-em dash (——) marks missing letters or a withheld name: Captain H—— never paid his tailor. The 3-em dash (———) stands for a whole missing word, and in bibliographies it once replaced an author's name repeated in successive entries. The 18th edition of Chicago recommends repeating the name instead.
Two lookalikes matter in technical writing. The minus sign (−) is a separate character, U+2212, designed to line up with a plus sign; in Word for Windows, type 2212 and press Alt+X. The figure dash (U+2012) is as wide as a digit, so it keeps phone numbers and columns of figures aligned.
Common dash mistakes
The results -- all 400 of them -- arrived.→ The results—all 400 of them—arrived. Microsoft's guide says not to use multiple hyphens for an em dash.from 1990–1999→ from 1990 to 1999, or 1990–1999The plan - if it was one - failed.→ a real dash, closed or spaced to suit your stylea well–known author→ a well-known author: ordinary compounds take a hyphenThe house—built in 1820, needed a roof.→ The house—built in 1820—needed a roof.She was late, —again.→ She was late—again.pages 12-18in a Chicago-style book → pages 12–18- Three pairs of dashes in one paragraph → keep the strongest and turn the rest into commas, parentheses or new sentences
Practice: which dash goes here?
Choose the mark for each gap, using Chicago style.
- The museum is open Tuesday_Sunday.
- She answered at last_three days later.
- a long_awaited sequel
- The Senate voted 52_48.
- “Wait, I didn't_” “You did.”
- the Dublin_Cork train
- a pre_World War I farmhouse
- Everything we needed_tents, stoves, maps_fit in the van.
- En dash: Tuesday–Sunday, a range
- Em dash: answered at last—three days later
- Hyphen: long-awaited, an ordinary compound
- En dash: 52–48, a vote
- Em dash: “Wait, I didn't—” for cut-off speech
- En dash: Dublin–Cork, a pairing
- En dash: pre–World War I, an open compound
- Em dashes: needed—tents, stoves, maps—fit, an aside with commas inside
Settle every dash in one pass
Dashes go wrong in bulk: a draft collects double hyphens, spaced hyphens and both styles of dash from different sittings and pasted notes. Fix them in one pass at the end rather than as you write: search for two hyphens in a row and for a hyphen with a space on each side, then check the hyphens between numbers.
In Strokes, you can select a chapter, press ⌘K and ask the Strokes Assistant to “change every spaced hyphen used as a dash to a closed em dash” or to “use en dashes in all number ranges.”
Frequently asked questions
Do you put spaces around an em dash?
It depends on the style guide. Chicago style and the Microsoft Writing Style Guide close it up with no spaces: “the plan—if it was one—failed.” Most newspapers put a space on each side, and much British publishing uses a spaced en dash instead of an em dash. Pick one convention per document and use it everywhere.
How do you type an em dash?
On a Mac, press Option, Shift and the hyphen key. On Windows, hold Alt and type 0151 on the numeric keypad; in Word for Windows, Ctrl, Alt and the keypad minus key also work. On a phone, hold the hyphen key and choose the longest dash. In HTML, write —, and in LaTeX, three hyphens.
Can you use a hyphen instead of an en dash?
Often, yes. Merriam-Webster notes that a hyphen often does the en dash's job between numbers and dates, and many publications never use en dashes. Book publishers that follow Chicago style do expect the en dash in ranges like 1990–1999 and compounds like pre–Civil War. Whichever you choose, be consistent, and in typeset text don't use a spaced hyphen as an em dash.
When should you use an em dash instead of a comma?
Use dashes when the aside is a sharp break, needs emphasis or already contains commas: “The three finalists—Lagos, Lima and Lyon—each sent a delegation.” Commas keep an aside low-key, and parentheses make it quieter still. Use dashes sparingly, about one pair per sentence and a few per page, or they stop standing out.
