![]() This typographically incorrect practice is a holdover from typewriter days when two hyphens were used as a replacement for the dash, which didn’t exist on the keyboard. One of the most common type crimes associated with this symbol is the use of two hyphens instead of an em dash. It is accessed by pressing Option+Shift+hyphen on a Mac and Alt+0151 in Windows (Alt+Shift+hyphen in InDesign). The en dash, which is wider than a hyphen and narrower than an em dash, is used to indicate a range, as well as a continuation of time.Īn em dash (-) is the longest of the three, and is most commonly used to indicate a break in thought, or a thought within a thought or a sentence. It is accessed by pressing Option+hyphen on a Mac and Alt+0150 in Windows (Alt+hyphen in InDesign). In fact, an en dash is correct in any instance where a preposition such as the words “to” and “from” can be substituted. This dash is used to indicate a range, that is, elements that are related by distance, including time, years, and dates such as 3 pm–6 pm, Monday–Friday, March 2–7, or pages 20–55. ![]() Hyphens are used to connect many compound words, as well as for phone numbers.Īn en dash (–) is wider than a hyphen and narrower than an em dash, and is the most misunderstood of the three. The hyphen is easily found to the right of the zero on most keyboards. The differences between all three symbols is clear in this setting of Clarendon.Ī hyphen (-) is the shortest in width of the three, and is used to hyphenate words that break at the end of a line, as well as to connect compound words, such as mother-in-law, well-being, and merry-go-round. While some of this confusion is a result of typewriter conventions still being used in today’s digital world, it is ultimately up to the person doing the typesetting-whether it be a production artist, web programmer, or graphic designer-to get it right. Their definition and purpose are frequently misunderstood by designers and writers alike, often leading to inaccurate and unprofessional typography. The hyphen is, of course, directly on your keyboard.Hyphens, en and em dashes are three visually similar yet significantly different punctuation marks that commonly appear in text. If you want to use the correct dash or hyphen in Stack Exchange comments, just use the appropriate HTML entity: - for em-dash, – for en-dash, and − for the minus sign. HTML authors must use the numeric forms ‒ or ‒ to type it unless the file is in Unicode there is no equivalent character entity. In Unicode, the figure dash is U+2012 (decimal 8210). The figure dash is often unavailable in this case, one may use a hyphen-minus instead. Its meaning is the same as a hyphen, as represented by the hyphen-minus glyph by contrast, the en dash is more appropriately used to indicate a range of values the minus sign also has a separate glyph. phone number 555‒0199), especially in columns for maintaining alignment. The figure dash is used within numbers (e.g. This is true of most fonts, not only mono-spaced fonts. The figure dash (‒) is so named because it is the same width as a digit, at least in fonts with digits of equal width. The minus sign is distinct from all three of the above. The 40-hour workweek has become a thing of the past. The 2015–2016 fiscal year was the most profitable year for the new business.Ī hyphen is used to join words in a compound construction, or separate syllables of a word, like during a line break, or (self-evidently) a hyphenated name. The teacher assigned pages 101–181 for tonight’s reading material. ![]() A good rule is to use it when expressing a "to" relationship. I sense something a presence I've not felt since-Īn en-dash is used to connect values in a range or that are related. School is based on the three R’s-reading, writing, and ’rithmetic.Īgainst all odds, Pete-the unluckiest man alive-won the lottery. An em-dash is typically used as a stand-in for a comma or parenthesis to separate out phrases-or even just a word-in a sentence for various reasons (e.g.
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