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Chances are that you've come across dashes and hyphens being used in writingâwhether it's a novel, fanfiction, academic reading, or even casually on the Internet. But did you know that there's different types of dashes having different purposes, or that hyphens and dashes are totally different things?
In this post, I'll go over the basics of using hyphens and dashes, which I believe all writers should be aware of.
The hyphen ('-' on your keyboard) is not the same thing as a dash. Hyphens are shorter and used very differently. A hyphen is used to join words together, particularly in the case of compound words (a word made of two or more other words). However, not all compound words use hyphens.
A hyphen can be used when two words are used as an adjective before a noun.
Here's an example: I am searching for a child-friendly textbook.
However, you wouldn't use a hyphen here: This textbook is child friendly.
A hyphen is not used between an adverb and adjective.
An incorrect sentence would be: This is an oddly-satisfying video.
The correct sentence is: This is an oddly satisfying video.
Do not use a hyphen at the end of a sentence to indicate a speaker being cut off. This may work in Internet slang, but not in literature.
An incorrect sentence: "There's no time. I'm going to explode-"
A correct sentence: "There's no time. I'm going to explodeâ"
Notice the longer variant of a hyphen used here? That's called an em dash, which we'll cover later in this post.
There are also some words which are hyphenated. The best way to check whether a word is hyphenated is to just look it up.
Some examples include: merry-go-round, self-respect, daughter-in-law, etc.
Numbers from twenty-one to ninety-nine are hyphenated.
For example: sixty-six, thirty-five, a hundred and fifty-four
The em dash is used when a number, followed by a noun, is used to form a compound adjective.
For example: The French revolution is an iconic event of eighteenth-century history.
The previous case does not hold true if the noun precedes the number.
An incorrect sentence: Take these boxes to Room-10.
A correct sentence: Take these boxes to Room 10.
Dashes are longer than hyphens. They also have different functions, depending on their type.
I'll go over the uses of two types of dashes: the em dash and the en dash.
On the keyboard, the em dash is represented by 'â'. While the en dash is represented by 'â'. You will notice that the hyphen is the shortest among these punctuation marks, while the em dash is the longest.
Em dashes work similarly to commas and parentheses, they indicate a pause or give a range. If you have too many commas in a sentence, using an em dash is the best way to get rid of them. You can also substitute colons with an em dash.
Em dashes are most commonly used to break up sentences.
Don't leave any blank space before or after an em dash.
In his backpack, you'll find two things: a book and a pen.
This sentence can be written as,
In his backpack, you'll find two thingsâa book and a pen.
Note: A common mistake made by a lot of beginner writers is to overuse the em dash in their writing (I've done that too!). While em dashes are satisfying to use, and look good, there's no need to use them in every sentence. Ensure that the sentences you use are diverse in structure!
They are generally used while talking about a span of time (whether in hours or years).
For example, 1998â1999, or 3:00â8:00.
They can be used to indicate a physical distance.
For example, CanberraâSydney.
Grammarly has excellent blogs on both hyphens and dashes! I'd recommend checking them out.
