I mean, they’re all little straight lines, right? True, but they all have different meanings and should, therefore, be used in different circumstances.
Hyphens are the smallest line and look like this: -. You’re probably already aware that they’re used to, drumroll please, hyphenate things. Some examples:
Her eight-year-old daughter wanted a chocolate birthday cake.
Self-care is essential in creating balance in your life.
It turns out that the family heirlooms had been stored in a long-forgotten trunk.
En dashes are a little bit longer than a hyphen and look like this: –. They are called en dashes because they take up the same amount of space as a lowercase n. They are used to display a range or in place of the word to. Some examples:
You can find the subject addressed in chapters 3–6.
The meeting will take place from 1:00–3:00.
The game allows for 2–6 players.
In addition, and to quote a Grammarly blog post, “en dashes should be used for clarity when one of the elements in a compound adjective is an open compound (made up of two words with a space between them) or when both elements contain hyphenated terms. In terms of clarity, this is especially helpful when one of the terms is a capitalized proper noun.” The blog gives the following examples:
Amanda only decorates with Ming Dynasty–style furniture.
I plan on wearing my great-grandmother’s World War I–era dress for my wedding.
*Helpful Hint: To insert an em dash on a PC, type alt+0150. On a Mac, type Option+Minus+-.
Em dashes are longer than en dashes and look like this: —. They are called em dashes because they take up the same amount of space as a lowercase m. They are very versatile and can be used in a variety of ways.
A pair of em dashes can be used in the place of commas and are commonly thought of to be more emphatic than commas.
When they were finally able to go on a vacation—after saving up for several years—they made sure to go to the places highest on their list.
A pair of em dashes can also be used to replace a pair of parentheses when a writer wants to draw attention to what is inside the em dashes.
After trying samples of ice cream—all 32 of them—she finally decided on what flavor she wanted.
Em dashes can also be used in place of a colon.
The tinted windows, the good gas mileage, and the heated seats—that’s why he chose that car.
Em dashes can be used in place of a semicolon.
She asked him to go to the store—he went without hesitation.
Additionally, em dashes can be used to indicate a sudden change in the direction of thinking.
Can you please bring me my glasses—no, wait, they’re right here on my head.
*Helpful Hint: To insert an em dash on a PC, type alt+0151. On a Mac, type Option+Shift+-.
Hopefully, this helps clarify things a bit for you. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out. I’m always up for talking about punctuation!
