Hyphens & Dashes

How to use them and the difference between them.

Jona McLaughlin & Hassan Khalifa

Layout

The difference between Hyphens and Dashes

When to use Hyphens

When to use Dashes

How to make a Dash

The Difference Between Hyphens and Dashes

Hyphens

(-) The purpose of using Hyphens is to connect two relevant words or more, in order to show they are a single entity.

Dashes

(--) a Dash can be used to indicted an interruption or emphasis in a sentence, furthermore its used to connect numbers and to extend sentences.

When To Use Hyphens

Compound Adjectives

• free-range eggs

• an off-campus apartment

• state-of the-art design

When To Use Hyphens

Compound Nouns

• do-it-yourself

• sister-in-law

• Forget-me-nots

When To Use Hyphens

Prefix

• Re-enact

• Co-operate

• Anti-fascist

When To Use Dashes

Times & Dates

• The project will be delivered January-June.

• I will visit 13 January-24 January.

• I will visit 0800-0900.

When To Use Dashes

Compound Adjectives with Equal Parts

• The India-Pakistani issue

• The NATO-Warsaw Pact agreement

When To Use Dashes

Extend Sentences

• She demanded just one thing from her students — effort.

• She demanded effort from her students — that's all she ever asked for.

How to make a Dash

Copy and paste an en dash (–) or an em dash (—) as required.

For Macs: ⌥Opt+- (en dash) or ⌥Opt+⇧ Shift+- (em dash), and ignore the rest of the page.

For Linux, if you have a Compose key: Compose--. (en dash) or Compose--- (em dash), and ignore the

rest of the page.

For Windows: Ctrl + number pad minus (en dash) or Ctrl + Alt + number pad minus (em dash) or two

hyphens (--), and ignore the rest of the page.

For iPhones and iPads: hold the - on screen keyboard until a pop up appears with choices including the

en dash and em dash. If using an external keyboard use the Mac advice above. Ignore the above page.