Punctuation options can overwhelm or confuse writers, especially when it comes to dashes and hyphens. Recently, I met with an author to review proposed edits for her document. She was curious about why I had used dashes of different lengths in several places in her file. As writers, we have several options when it comes to punctuating our sentences, but not everyone realizes that dashes and hyphens serve different purposes. Today, we’ll look at en dashes. Next month, we’ll review em dashes, then end with a look at hyphens.
En dashes
Photo by Kat Stokes on Unsplash
An en dash is the same length as the letter n; it’s slightly longer than a hyphen. En dashes most often connect numbers and indicate a range. Think about dates, times, or page numbers; these are continuing numbers, so an en dash signifies through or up to and including.
January–March
Pages 8–15
Open 8–5
If you introduce your range with from, do not use an en dash between your elements; instead, use to or through. When between introduces your elements, use and in place of an en dash.
From 1980 to 1990
Between 5 and 10
For an unfinished number range, use an en dash to show that the range is ongoing, such as birth dates for living people or dates for serial publications. Note that closing punctuation directly follows the en dash with no space in between.
Michael Jordan (1963–)
En dashes are also used with scores and directions, signifying to.
The US soccer team defeated the Netherlands, 4–2.
The Fredericksburg–DC train leaves at 3 p.m.
Some universities and colleges identify campus locations with en dashes. This practice varies widely, so be sure to confirm the preference from your institution before using.
The University of Wisconsin–Madison
When a compound adjective consists of an open compound or if both elements are hyphenated compounds, we connect them with an en dash. This signals a connection across more than two words, unlike a hyphen, which only shows a connection between two words.
Taylor Swift–style songs
Post–World War I years
Takeaway
Although many people don’t realize en dashes exist, we see these dashes frequently. By incorporating them in your repertoire, you can convey information more clearly to your readers. If you need help figuring out which dashes to use in your document, contact me! I’d love to learn more about your project and help make your writing bulletproof.