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Part xii. How to Properly Use Dashes

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Dashes, like commas, semicolons, colons, ellipses, and parentheses, indicate added emphasis, an interruption, or an abrupt change of thought.

Also, do not confuse the hyphen with the dash, which is noticeably longer. A hyphen is not a dash. Using them interchangeably creates chaos. They have very different jobs.

There are three types of dashes.

1. A short en dash ( - ), which is sometimes used to set off concluding lists and explanations in a more informal and abrupt manner than the colon. We seldom see the dash used this way in formal, academic prose.

2. A regular-sized en dash ( – ), which is used for making the space between dates in a chronological range, in time, and between numbers and letters in an indexing scheme.

Kennedy's presidency (1961–1963) marked an extraordinary era...

6:30–8:45 p.m.

table 13–C, CT Statute 144–A

The en dash is also used to join compound modifiers made up of elements that are themselves either open compounds (frequently two-word proper nouns) or already hyphenated compounds:

The Puerto Rican–United States collaboration

The New York–New Jersey border

Post-Darwinian–pre-Freudian theorems

Remember, a string of modifiers in a single compound, though, is joined with hyphens, not dashes:

hilarious, never-to-be-forgotten moments

3. An em dash ( — )

We use the em dash for most purposes.

Experienced writers know that these marks are not interchangeable. Note how dashes subtly change the tone of the following sentences:

You are the friend, the only friend, who offered to help me.
You are the friend—the only friend—who offered to help me.

I pay the bills; she has all the fun.
I pay the bills—she has all the fun.

I wish you would... oh, never mind.
I wish you would—oh, never mind.

The dash is used as a super-comma or set of super-commas to set off parenthetical elements, especially when those elements contain internal forms of punctuation:

All four of them—Bob, Jeffrey, Jason, and Brett—did well in college.

Keep in mind to not use dashes to set apart material when commas would do the work for you just fine. Also, keep in the mind the following rules:

Rule One

Words and phrases between dashes are not generally part of the subject. Example:

Joe—and his trusty mutt—was always welcome.

Rule Two

Dashes replace otherwise mandatory punctuation, such as the commas after Iowa and 2013 in the following examples:

Without dash: The man from Ames, Iowa, arrived.

With dash: The man—he was from Ames, Iowa—arrived.

Without dash: The May 1, 2013, edition of the Ames Sentinel arrived in June.

With dash: The Ames Sentinel—dated May 1, 2013—arrived in June.

Rule Three

There should not be any spaces around dashes.

Incorrect form of an em dash: 100—175 people

Incorrect form of an en dash: 100 – 175 people

Correct form of a hyphen: 100-175 people

The main reason the first two are incorrect is because there are numbers around the dash. When writing out numbers like this, use a hyphen.

Also, the second example is incorrect because there are spaces around the dash.

Dashes with Dialogue

Em dashes are very versatile. In writing dialogue, the dash is used to show breaks in thought and shifts in tone:

"How many times have I asked you not to—" Jason suddenly stopped talking and looked out the window.

"Not to do what?" I prompted.

"Not to—Oh heck, I forget!"

Check out the second part of Section II Dialogue, "How To Properly Format Dialogue," to learn more about em dashes in dialogue.

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