Tiny Grammar Cheatsheet: Hyphens, En, and Em Dashes
Hyphens ( - ) are the shortest and are used to:
‣ link elements in a compound word: dog-owner
‣ separate some affixes from the rest of the word: pre-election
‣ (sometimes) take the place of the en dash indicating range: pages 24-66
‣ indicate stuttering or abrupt interruption: M-m-micheal?
‣ spell out a word letter for letter: I said we are c-l-o-s-e-d.
En Dashes ( – ) are shorter than em dashes. They indicate a range and could usually be replaced with "from" and "to":
✓ I lived in New York 2015–2020. ⭤ I lived in New York from 2015 to 2020.
But: ✗ I lived in New York from 2015–2020.
Em Dashes ( — ) are longest. They are used:
‣ to call attention to the content they separate from the rest of the sentence and emphasize it
‣ in place of commas and parentheses: When he finally apologized—after four weeks of silence—she was no longer interested in hearing him out.
‣ in place of a colon, especially to summarize, explain, or expand upon the preceding clause in a dramatic manner: After months of deliberation, the jurors reached a unanimous verdict—guilty.
‣ to summarize or note the common link in a list: Sweet, sour, salty, bitter—all tastes the cook loved to experiment with.
‣ to set off or introduce defining phrases and lists: The shop's selection of three flavors—strawberry, mint, and chocolate—was never enough variety.
‣ to indicate a new direction: I agree with you, but James—he felt otherwise.
‣ to indicate hesitation: Well, I think—Yeah, I guess it is concerning.
Fun Fact: en dashes received their name because the dash is the length of the letter N, while the em dash is the length of the letter M.
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Hey gamers! I'm gonna give you an entire lesson on hyphens, Em dashes and En dashes via tumblr, right now.
Lets preface with this: Grammar has two modes of use.
Prescriptive: A set of rules that dictate how a language "should" be used.
Descriptive: How grammar/language is ACTUALLY used.
This is an important distinction for this lesson because I am going to start with a powerpoint that explains the rules/uses of hyphens and dashes. THEN after, we will talk about the rhetorical effects dashes have on readers and how authors can use them to their advantage.
COOL lets begin.
The first thing you all need to know about hyphens and dashes is what they look like.
Please note how the EM dash is the longest, the EN is next, then the minus, and the hyphen. The sizing and name of these dashes was historically decided because Em dashes were the size of an M and an En was the size of an N.
This is wonky now considering typing and fonts and all that jazz, but the size still matters (haha).
These are how you type them! I am a google docs user, and the short cuts in docs are weird. You will want to go into Insert then go down to special characters. Type in the dash you need, and click it to insert.
Hyphens so these things!
What is a modifier? It's a word that MODIFIES the noun. like a light rain, or a long drive. these are adjectives/adverbs (depending)
Hyphens can link two modifiers. They can also link compound nouns.
These are the things Em dashes do!
If you take a gander through Margin of Error (Chapter 4 would be best because that's where I learned the special character function) you'll see all of these examples in action!
En dashes aren't as common as EM dashes or hyphens. These are used strictly in a prescriptive sense. From my knowledge there is no way to use these rhetorically. only for clarity and these are the three times you'll see them.
COOL! Now lets talk about how Em dashes are used rhetorically. What does an Em dash do to your writing? How does it effect a reader?
Emphasis Em dashes create pauses in speech. If I were talking to you and I wanted to pause--
or cut myself off, I could use either an elipses or an Em dash. Where an elipses is more of a trail off... the Em dash draws the readers eye. It makes the reader stop and look at what is around them.
THATS IT! Thats what it does! It's more emphasis than a comma or a parenthetical. You could in theory use a comma, but think of how much stress you want on something.
FOR EXAMPLE, in this line from Margin of Error.
With no Puncuation:
“Ah well Grian and I weren’t really getting along at the time…” He trails off in a way that screams I’m done talking about this something he does a lot when talking about his family so Tango moves the conversation in a different direction.
With Commas:
“Ah, well, Grian and I weren’t really getting along at the time…” He trails off in a way that screams I’m done talking about this, something he does a lot when talking about his family, so Tango moves the conversation in a different direction.
With Em dashes:
“Ah—well, Grian and I weren’t really getting along at the time…” He trails off in a way that screams I’m done talking about this—something he does a lot when talking about his family—so Tango moves the conversation in a different direction.
Notice how it's different? The commas certainly do their job at making the reader pause. They help insert the phrase, but its not the same as the dashes. The dashes make the reader LOOK at what is between them. it becomes the focus of the sentence. We are no longer worries about what Jimmy's tone is, but that he uses it often when talkin about his family.
Look at this example with parenthesis too, and see how those change the effect.
With parenthesis:
“Ah—well, Grian and I weren’t really getting along at the time…” He trails off in a way that screams I’m done talking about this (something he does a lot when talking about his family) so Tango moves the conversation in a different direction.
Seeeee? it makes a difference! The parenthesis make it more of a passive thought. Something for the reader to consider, but is overall not important to the story.
This is why us authors sometimes hem and haw over grammar! I certainly think that Em dashes can be used based off vibes (I do this all the time) but now you know what its really doing for your reader!
I want to look at one more example of this before we wrap up.
With no Puncuation:
“Your eyes are pretty.” Jimmy says wistfully suddenly like he can’t hold it in any longer
With Commas:
“Your eyes are pretty.” Jimmy says wistfully, suddenly, like he can’t hold it in any longer
With Em dashes:
“Your eyes are pretty.” Jimmy says wistfully—suddenly—like he can’t hold it in any longer
With Parenthesis:
“Your eyes are pretty.” Jimmy says wistfully (suddenly) like he can’t hold it in any longer.
TADA! You can now use hyphens, em dashes and en dashes!!! Thank you for coming to class. Your homework is to play around with these in your writing. I will accpet questions via the Ask box or the comments of this post. Happy writing nerds, go use your new toy.
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I don't think that thing existed in my mother tongue's literature until 2023 with the spawn of generative AI.
I did see it in English literature before and I thought it was a special formatting of the hyphen.
I now write in both language and I still don't know how you make em dashes or en dashes. I use the commas, the semicolons and the hyphens. On the keyboard, there's only the hyphen.
