DASHES
The Hyphen (-)
The smallest of the three kinds of dashes, a hyphen is used to
connect compound words in situations where it is grammatically
correct to do so.
hyphenated compound words - five-year-old, father-in-law
compound adjectives (used before a noun) - well-oiled
machine, pet-friendly office
fractions (when spelled out) - one-third, three-fifths
The Em Dash (—)
The primary purpose of em dash is to call special attention to a
group of words within a statement or question. Em dash could signal
that a certain phrase is particularly important or deserving of extra
emphasis.
As she walked across the stage to receive her degree — the
first in her family to graduate from college — she felt an
immeasurable sense of accomplishment.
After laboring in the hot afternoon sun, Bob was incredibly
tired — exhausted, really — but knew he could not pause to
rest.
Using em dashes is a great way — one of the very best — to
provide readers with unique insights into the psyche of a
character.
The En Dash (–)
The en dash is slightly larger than a hyphen and slightly smaller than
an em dash. The name en indicates that the dash is roughly the size
of the letter "n.' It is most commonly used to punctuate a range of
numbers (dates or quantitative values), acting in place of the
words to or through in drawing a comparison.
She worked here from 2015–2019.
The final score was 14–10.
The final exam will cover chapters 1–10.
