How to Use Hyphens (-), En Dashes (–), and Em Dashes (—)
In this section, we will be discussing the hyphen, the en dash, and the em dash. Most writers recognize the hyphen, but not everyone is familiar with the en dash or em dash. These are known as special characters because they do not appear on most standard keyboards.
You may come across en dashes and em dashes in academic and professional writing, and at some point, you may be required to use them. This section will discuss these special characters and provide instruction on how to type them in both Microsoft and Apple products.
How to type en dashes and em dashes
En dashes and em dashes are considered special characters, so they do not appear on a standard keyboard. Many word processors, like Microsoft Word, will automatically detect when two hyphens (--) are used without spaces to connect two words and will attempt to convert them to the correct dash character. There are also shortcuts that can be used to insert dashes.
- En dash:
- Mac shortcut: Option + Hyphen (-)
- Windows shortcut: Alt + 0150 on numpad
- Microsoft Word shortcut: Alt + Hyphen (-) on number pad
- Em dash:
- Mac shortcut: Shift + Option + Hyphen (-)
- Windows shortcut: Alt + 0151 on numpad
- Microsoft Word shortcut: Ctrl + Alt + Hyphen (-) on number pad
Hyphens (-)
Hyphens are used in coequal nouns, compound adjectives, and some compound nouns. They are also used to hyphenate compound words together when a prefix or suffix is added.
Hyphens in coequal nouns
When describing someone or something with multiple nouns, if the nouns are of equal importance, they may be presented as coequal nouns by connecting the nouns with hyphens.
Here are examples of coequal nouns:
- Example: Taylor Swift is a singer and songwriter.
- Example: Taylor Swift is a singer-songwriter.
- Example: Jack has a career as an animator, illustrator, and videographer.
- Example: Jack has a career as an animator-illustrator-videographer.
Hyphens in compound adjectives
A compound adjective is a single adjective that is made of multiple words.
Here are examples of compound adjectives.
- Example: He is a world-class violinist.
- Example: I took a fast-acting painkiller.
Hyphens in compound nouns
A compound noun is a noun that is made of multiple words. Some compound nouns, like ice cream, do not require hyphens, while others do.
Here are examples of compound nouns that require hyphens.
- Example: I am so glad that I actually like my mother-in-law.
- Example: Julie and Sarah were runners-up in the contest.
- Example: The museum called the police once they found out about the break-in.
Hyphenating compound words when adding a prefix or suffix
When a prefix or suffix is added to a compound noun or compound adjective, the word group should be hyphenated for clarity. This is true even if the compound words are not normally connected by a hyphen.
Consider the compound noun fine arts, which is usually not hyphenated. If the suffix -based is added, then fine arts becomes fine-arts-based. This is done to clarify that the suffix -based is modifying the fine arts, not just arts.
- Example: She attended the art school for its fine-arts-based curriculum.
- Example: She attended the art school for its curriculum, which was based in the fine arts.
- Example: She attended the art school for its fine arts-based curriculum.
- Example: She attended the art school for its arts-based curriculum, which she thought was fine, but nothing special.
Note: In handwritten or typewriter-written documents, a hyphen is often used at the end of a line of text to continue a word on to the next line. This practice is generally not followed for contemporary academic writing.
En Dashes (–)
The en dash is used instead of a hyphen when connecting a prefix or a suffix to a proper noun that is more than one word. When using an en dash to connect a prefix or a suffix to a word, do not put any spaces before or after the en dash.
- Example: The movie starred an Academy Award–winning actor.
Em Dashes (—)
The em dash is used when an idea is being interrupted, when clarification is needed, when elaboration is needed, or when items are being listed in a sentence. The em dash should be used sparingly in your writing.
Em dashes for interruptions:
Use em dashes when you are interrupting the main idea of a sentence. If the interruption occurs at the end of the sentence, use a single em dash. If the interruption occurs in the middle of a sentence, put em dashes before and after the interruption. Do not put spaces before or after an em dash.
- Example: I want to be a landscape photographer and have my work featured on the cover of National Geographic—even though my parents want me to go to medical school.
- Example: My brother—who got his medical degree as a foot doctor—told me to pursue my dreams.
Em dashes for clarification:
Use em dashes to clarify meaning when commas would be too ambiguous.
- Example: Shakespeare never reveals if the symptoms of Hamlet’s madness—paranoia, violence, and visions—are the real thing or a trick he’s pulling on the court.
Consider if the sentence were written only using commas:
- Example: Shakespeare never reveals if the symptoms of Hamlet’s madness, paranoia, violence, and visions are the real thing or a trick he’s pulling on the court.
Without em dashes, the meaning of the sentence is more grammatically ambiguous. When only using commas, the word madness could be part of the list rather than the category under which the other words are listed.
Em dashes for elaboration:
Use em dashes when elaborating on an idea with words like for example or namely.
- Example: The restaurant offered specialty burgers based on world cuisines—for example, a Korean kimchi burger.
- Example: The bowl of spaghetti was knocked all over the kitchen floor. The principal offender—namely, Mister Fluffers—was my roommate’s adopted cat.
Em dashes for lists:
Em dashes can be used for lists instead of colons.
- Example: The soft-serve ice cream stand offered all the usual flavors—vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, and swirl.
