Em dashes and en dashes (— vs –)
There are two types of dash. The en dash is approximately the length of the letter n, and the em dash the length of the letter m.
- The shorter en dash (–) is used to mark ranges.
- The longer em dash (—) is used to separate extra information or mark a break in a sentence.
The en dash is sometimes also used in the same way as an em dash; in this case, it takes a space on either side.
Make sure not to confuse dashes with shorter hyphens (-), which are used to combine words (as in well-behaved or long-running). A hyphen should not be used in place of a dash.
The em dash: marking a break in a sentence
Em dashes can be used in pairs to mark off additional information that is not essential to understand the sentence. Here they function similarly to parentheses or a pair of commas. Don’t put a space on either side of an em dash:
An em dash can also be used to mark a break in a sentence in place of a semicolon or colon. In this context, dashes are often used for emphasis or to signal a change in tone:
Note, however, that dashes used in this way are considered more informal than other punctuation marks, so should be used sparingly and selectively in academic writing.
The en dash: marking a range
The en dash is used to indicate a range of numbers or a span of time. You can read it as representing “to” or “through”:
Using en dashes in place of em dashes
You might also see an en dash used in the same way as an em dash, especially in less formal writing. In this context, unlike the em dash, the en dash takes a space on either side:
This usage of the en dash is especially common in British English, while the em dash is more prevalent in American English.
If you choose to use en dashes in this way, make sure to do so consistently. A common mistake is using both forms in the same text or spacing the punctuation incorrectly:
- Jeff Bezos–who is the founder, chairman, CEO, and president of Amazon — is one of the richest people in the world.
- Jeff Bezos—who is the founder, chairman, CEO, and president of Amazon—is one of the richest people in the world.
- Jeff Bezos – who is the founder, chairman, CEO, and president of Amazon – is one of the richest people in the world.
2 comments
Eric Wynne
February 19, 2021 at 8:51 AMHi Sccribbr Team,
thanks for the very informative article. I have a question. With regard to the use of a colon, I was taught at school that one of its main functions was to divide two contrasting notions occurring in a single sentence, e.g “ we thought he would join us on the trip: he was adamant he would not”. Is that correct, or was I misinformed? Best wishes, Eric
Jack Caulfield (Scribbr Team)
February 23, 2021 at 2:42 PMHi Eric,
The example you provide of colon use is not exactly incorrect, but it would be more standard to use a semicolon in that case: "We thought he would join us on the trip; he was adamant he would not." The usage in your example is something you might encounter in literary writing, but in academic writing it's best to use colons more strictly, specifically for "pointing forward"—introducing something after the colon.
You can read more about colons here, and about semicolons here.