Quick answer: A hyphen (-) joins words, as in well-known or mother-in-law. An en dash (–), roughly the width of a capital N, links ranges and pairs — read it as "to" or "through," as in pages 10–20 or the New York–London flight. An em dash (—), about the width of a capital M and the longest of the three, breaks into a sentence—like this—doing the job of commas, parentheses, or a colon.
Learn those three verbs — join, span, break — and you have ninety percent of it. The rest is detail.
The hyphen is the short one on your keyboard, and it lives inside or between words rather than between clauses. Use it to:
A key rule: hyphenate a compound modifier before the noun, but not after it.
And never hyphenate after an adverb ending in -ly — the -ly already does the joining:
The en dash is the middle length, and most people have never deliberately typed one. It has two main jobs:
Correct versus incorrect for a range:
There is also a tidier, more advanced use: an en dash links a prefix or single word to an open compound — one that already contains a space.
One common trap: don't use an en dash once you've written from or between. Pair from with to, and between with and:
The em dash is the long, dramatic one — the closest punctuation has to a spotlight. Use it to:
A pair of em dashes works like stronger brackets; a single em dash works like a colon with attitude. Correct versus wrong:
Used well, the em dash is punchy. Used every other line, it turns prose breathless — so reserve it for moments that earn the drama.
This is where style guides split, so match your audience. The disagreement is only about the sentence-level dash — the parenthetical or "break" dash:
So the same aside is word—word in an American book, word — word in a US newspaper, and word – word in a British one. All three are correct in their home style; the only real error is mixing them on one page. Note that the ranges rule (en dash) and the joining rule (hyphen) are the same on both sides of the Atlantic.
The names give the widths away: an en dash is about as wide as a capital N, an em dash as wide as a capital M — and because M is wider than N, the em dash is the longer mark. For the job each does, try swapping the dash for a word: if "to" or "through" fits, you want an en dash (10–20 = 10 to 20); if "namely" or a pair of brackets fits, you want an em dash.
A hyphen (-) is shorter and joins words into compounds, like "well-known" or "twenty-one." A dash is longer and separates parts of a sentence. There are two dashes: the en dash (–) for ranges like "10–20," and the em dash (—) for breaks and asides—like this. In short, hyphens link words; dashes divide thoughts.
Use an en dash (–) for date and number ranges: "1914–1918," "pages 20–35," "ages 5–11." Read it as "to" or "through," and never use the longer em dash or the shorter hyphen for a range. One exception: if you've written "from," pair it with "to"—write "from 1914 to 1918," not "from 1914–1918."
It depends on your style. The Chicago Manual of Style (US books) sets em dashes closed up, with no spaces—like this. AP style (US news) adds a space on each side — like this. British publishers usually skip the em dash and use a spaced en dash instead – like this. Pick one convention and stay consistent throughout.
No. The em dash is centuries-old punctuation used by Austen, Dickinson, and Dickens, and it remains standard in professional writing today. AI tools happen to use it often, so some readers now notice it—but a well-placed em dash signals a careful writer, not a robot. Don't abandon a correct mark over a passing suspicion.
On a Mac, press Option + hyphen for an en dash (–) and Option + Shift + hyphen for an em dash (—). On Windows, hold Alt and type 0150 (en) or 0151 (em) on the numeric keypad. In Word or Google Docs, typing two hyphens between words auto-corrects into a dash.
