![]() ![]() Note: These dashes are not a series of hyphens. If the result is awkward, try to reword: a cup that is two-thirds full instead of a two-thirds-full cup. (For related information, see Dates and Times.) The en dash is also used in open compound adjectives that precede a noun: an Academy Award–winning director the post–World War II years.Ī single word or prefix should be joined to a hyphenated compound by another hyphen rather than an en dash: non-tenure-track faculty non-English-speaking peoples. for the assignment, see chapters 14–16 the Rome–Paris train leaves at 3 p.m. With continuing numbers-such as dates, times, and page numbers-it signifies “up to and including” or “from … to”: 8 a.m.–5 p.m. The principal use of the short dash, or en dash, is to connect numbers and, less often, words. These qualities-good humor, insight, compassion-would serve him well. The firm hired 20 agents-an unprecedented step. Use a long dash (em) to denote an abrupt change in thought or an emphatic pause, or to set off a series within a phrase. For details, contact us.En and em refer to the traditional letter-equivalent widths of the dashes. We design and build custom mobile websites. Some blog platforms may automatically convert a double hyphen to an em dash.Īnd then your hyphens, en dashes and em dashes will all be in their proper places, and your readers won’t stumble over your words. Not too many people will quibble, and there will be no loss of meaning.Īnd create a pseudo-em dash by one of two ways: leave spaces before and after a hyphen - like this, or type two consecutive hyphens-like this. Go ahead and use a hyphen instead of an en dash. Or press the Alt key while typing 0151 on the numeric keypad.īut what if you don't have a standard keyboard, or are writing a blog post, or don't want to mess with html? ![]() To produce an em dash in Word, press Ctrl-Alt-minus sign on the numeric keypad. Word automatically converts the hyphen to an en dash. If your laptop doesn't have separate numeric keys, do this: Type the word preceding the en dash, leave a space, type a hyphen, leave another space, type your next word and leave a space again. Or press the Alt key while typing 0150 on the numeric keypad. To type an en dash in Microsoft Word, press the Ctrl and minus sign keys on the numeric keypad (on a standard keyboard). The html codes for the en dash are – or – To type a hyphen in html or Microsoft Word, just press the hyphen key. How to Enter Hyphens, En Dashes and Em Dashes in HTML and Word Example: He would make a good spouse-but not for me. It's twice as long as the en dash, and is used most often in a sentence to set apart two independent but related ideas. There are other uses for it too, but these are the most frequent ones. Its purpose is to show a range, as in: Boston beat Miami 98–83.Īn en dash also shows a connection between two places, like New York–Boston corridor. Sometimes it's used to avoid doubling vowels, as in pre-empt or co-operate.Īn en dash is slightly longer than a hyphen. It is used to join two words together that express a single idea. It's the key next to the zero on a regular keyboard. However, The Oxford Style Manual notes that many British publishers use an en rule with. According to CMOS, in British usage, an en dash (with space before and after) is usually preferred to the em dash as punctuation in running text. How?Ī hyphen is the smallest dash available. Fun fact: The en dash is called the en rule in British English, and the em dash is called the em rule. Eventually, after reading it a couple of times, they may realize that the hyphen is standing in for an em dash.įortunately, this problem can be easily avoided, as it's fairly simple to ensure you're entering the right dash - hyphen, en or em - in your writing. Doing this makes the copy awkward and forces the reader to reread the sentence to figure out its meaning. In formal writing, however, you can't get away with using a hyphen instead of an en dash.Īnd you definitely can't use a hyphen instead of a em dash. When you use a hyphen where you should use an en dash, it's usually not a problem. Hyphens often creep into web copy in places where en dashes or em dashes belong. ![]()
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