purdue owl em dash

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)

What is an em dash.

The em dash (—) can function like a comma, a colon, or parenthesis. Like commas and parentheses, em dashes set off extra information, such as examples, explanatory or descriptive phrases, or supplemental facts. Like a colon, an em dash introduces a clause that explains or expands upon something that precedes it.

The Em Dash Indicates a New Direction

• An em dash can mark an abrupt change or break in the structure of a sentence.

Mabel the Cat was delighted with the assortment of pastries the new bakery featured, but Harry the Dog—he felt otherwise.

• An em dash can indicate interrupted speech or a speaker’s confusion or hesitation.

“Of course you have a point,” Mabel murmured. “That is—I suppose it is concerning.”

The Em Dash as Comma or Parenthesis

• Em dashes are used in place of commas or parentheses to emphasize or draw attention to parenthetical or amplifying material. In this particular task, em dashes occupy a kind of middle ground among the three: when commas do the job, the material is most closely related to what’s around it, and when parentheses do the job, the material is most distantly related to what’s around it; when dashes do the job the material is somewhere in the middle.

And the wide range of its hours of operation—6 a.m. to 6 p.m.—certainly showed concern for customers’ manifold circumstances.

• Dashes set off or introduce defining phrases and lists.

A regular selection of three kinds of croissants—plain, almond, and chocolate—was heartening, both Mabel and Harry agreed.

• An em dash is often used in place of a colon or semicolon to link clauses, especially when the clause that follows the dash explains, summarizes, or expands upon the preceding clause in a somewhat dramatic way.

Harry would never forget the Tuesday that Mabel called him from the bakery, her voice brimming with excitement—the bakery had added cheese Danishes to its selection.

• An em dash or pair of dashes often sets off illustrative or amplifying material introduced by such phrases as for example , namely , and that is , when the break in continuity is greater than that shown by a comma, or when the dash would clarify the sentence structure better than a comma.

The bakery was truly phenomenal. Although they did miss the mark somewhat with the pineapple upside-down cake Mabel ordered—that is, the cake had clearly been baked right-side up.

• An em dash may introduce a summary statement that follows a series of words or phrases.

Chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, peanut butter, snickerdoodle, both macarons and macaroons—the panoply of cookie varieties was impressive as well.

• A dash often precedes the name of an author or source at the end of a quoted passage—such as an epigraph, extract, or book or film blurb—that is not part of the main text. The attribution may appear immediately after the quotation or on the next line.

“One cannot underestimate the effect a good bakery can have on a person’s well-being.” —Mabel the Cat, The Websterburg Reporter

The Em Dash in the Company of Other Punctuation Marks

• If an em dash appears at a point where a comma could also appear, the comma is omitted.

Within its first year, Mabel and Harry had sampled all of the bakery’s offerings—all 62 items—and had also decided that the exercise was worth repeating.

• When a pair of em dashes sets off material ending with an exclamation point or a question mark, the mark is placed inside the dashes.

Mabel tried, despite her dolefulness—for how could she be otherwise?—to bake her own bread but each loaf that emerged from her oven tasted vaguely of tears.

• Dashes are used inside parentheses, and vice versa, to indicate parenthetical material within parenthetical material. The second dash is omitted if it would immediately precede the closing parenthesis; a closing parenthesis is never omitted.

The bakery’s reputation for scrumptious goods (ambrosial, even—each item was surely fit for gods) spread far and wide.

Em dash vs en dash

• Remembering that the em dash is the length of a capital M, it will surprise no one that the so-called “en dash” is the approximate length of a capital N, –. The en dash is the least loved of all; it’s not easily rendered by the average keyboard user (one has to select it as a special character, whereas the em dash can be conjured with two hyphens), so it’s mostly encountered in typeset material. (A hyphen does its job in other text.) It is most often used between numbers, dates, or other notations to signify “(up) to and including.”

The bakery will be closed August 1–August 31. The bakery is open 6:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m. The exceedingly complex recipe spans pages 128–34. Mabel and Harry lived elsewhere 2007–2019.

Note that one does not need words like from and between in these cases. The phrase “open 6:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.” can be read as “open between 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.” or as “open from 6:00 a.m. to/until 6:00 p.m.”

• If you want to be official about things, use the en dash to replace a hyphen in compound adjectives when at least one of the elements is a two-word compound.

the post–Cold War era

The thinking is that using a hyphen here, as in “the post-Cold War era,” risks the suggestion that post attaches only to Cold . It’s unlikely, though, that a reader would truly be confused.

• The en dash replaces the word to between capitalized names, and is used to indicate linkages such as boundaries, treaties, and oppositions.

a Boston–Washington train the pie–cake divide

• A two-em dash, ——, is used to indicate missing letters in a word and, less frequently, to indicate a missing word.

The butter-stained and crumb-embedded note was attributed to a Ms. M—— of Websterburg.

• A three-em dash, ———, indicates that a word has been left out or that an unknown word or figure is to be supplied.

Years later it was revealed that the Websterburg bakers had once had a bakery in ———, a city to the south. But the water quality there was prohibitive to the creating of decent bagels.

While we said above that the em dash, also called the “common dash,” is the most common of the true dashes, hyphens show up more frequently in text. They have a variety of uses.

• Hyphens are used to link elements in compound words .

a baker-owner

• In some words, a hyphen separates a prefix, suffix, or medial element from the rest of the word.

Websterburg’s pre-bakery days a bread-like scone jack-o'-lantern sugar cookies

• As we noted above, a hyphen often does the job of an en dash between numbers and dates, providing the meaning "(up) to and including."

pages 128-34 the years 2007-2019

• A hyphen marks an end-of-line division of a word.

Mabel and Harry don’t like to linger on their memories of Webster- burg’s pre-bakery days.

• A hyphen divides letters or syllables to give the effect of stuttering, sobbing, or halting speech.

"M-m-mabel, the cheese Danish is divine!”

• Hyphens indicate a word spelled out letter by letter.

Let’s not even talk about August, when the bakery is c-l-o-s-e-d.

The em dash is sometimes considered a less formal equivalent of the colon and parenthesis, but in truth it’s used in all kinds of writing, including the most formal—the choice of which mark to use is really a matter of personal preference.

Spacing around an em dash varies. Most newspapers insert a space before and after the dash, and many popular magazines do the same, but most books and journals omit spacing, closing whatever comes before and after the em dash right up next to it. This website prefers the latter, its style requiring the closely held em dash in running text.

Word of the Day

See Definitions and Examples »

Get Word of the Day daily email!

Games & Quizzes

Punctuation

A guide to using semicolons, a guide to deciphering diacritics, on contractions of multiple words, the serial comma explained, the history of 'ampersand', grammar & usage, more words you always have to look up, the difference between 'i.e.' and 'e.g.', more commonly misspelled words, plural and possessive names: a guide, commonly misspelled words, pilfer: how to play and win, 8 words with fascinating histories, great big list of beautiful and useless words, vol. 3, it's a scorcher words for the summer heat, flower etymologies for your spring garden.

Dashes in MLA Style and Microsoft Word

The series Microsoft Word and MLA Style shows writers how to use Word to make their essays conform to MLA style guidelines. This post explains how to use dashes in MLA style and Microsoft Word .

Dashes come in two varieties: em dashes and en dashes. Whereas hyphens primarily divide compound words (“a long-standing concern”), dashes divide other kinds of compound structures or indicate breaks in a sentence. They also appear in works-cited lists in MLA publications. But dashes do not appear on standard keyboards. They are special characters. For that reason, it is a good idea to use keyboard shortcuts to insert them in your text. In what follows I provide examples of how the MLA uses dashes and how to access them in Microsoft Word .

Dashes in Your Prose

When you use dashes in your prose, they’re typically em dashes. They’re called that because they’re the width of the letter m . Em dashes—like the ones used in this sentence—separate one portion of the sentence from another. They work like parentheses. MLA style uses en dashes—so called because they are the length of the letter n —in prose after single compound adjectives that are also proper nouns. For example, the phrase “the Academy Award–winning actress” needs an en dash, not a hyphen. Our related post on hyphens and en dashes explains how we use them.

Dashes in the Works-Cited List

In student writing, there is no need to use em and en dashes in the works-cited list. But MLA publications use dashes to enhance readability. Our publications require em dashes in the works-cited list when there are two or more works by a single author. The following provides an example:

Joyce, James.  Finnegans Wake . Oxford UP, 2012. ———.  Ulysses . Random House, 1961.

Three em dashes appear in place of the author before the second work and all subsequent works.

MLA publications use en dashes in the works-cited list to separate numbers in numerical ranges. The following provides an example, in the page range at the end of the entry:

Barchas, Janine. “Sarah Fielding’s Dashing Style and Eighteenth-Century Print Culture.”  ELH , vol. 63, no. 3, 1996, pp. 633–56.

Using Shortcuts in Microsoft Word

The instructions below will work for most versions of Word on either a PC or a Mac. If they don’t work for you, consult Microsoft’s website .

Word has built-in shortcuts for dashes. On a PC, it’s easiest to press Ctrl+- (that’s Ctrl plus the minus sign) for an en dash and  Alt + Ctrl+- (that’s Alt plus Ctrl plus  the minus sign)  f or an em dash. Or  you could use Alt codes: h old down the Alt key  and  press 0150 for an en dash and 0151 for an em dash. Note tha t  you cannot use the number keys  or minus sign  at the top of the keyboard to  insert dashes using the built-in shortcuts or Alt codes on a PC ; you must use the numerical keypad with Num Lock turned on, which you can’t do on a laptop. If you’re using a laptop, you’ll probably want to create your own shortcuts, which I explain how to do below. On a Mac, the built-in shortcut for en dashes is Option+- (that’s the Option key plus the hyphen key), and the shortcut for em dashes is Option+Shift+- (Option, Shift, then the hyphen key).

Users may want to create their own shortcuts for dashes. If you are using Word on a PC, click the following tabs in order: File > Options > Customize Ribbon. At the bottom of the Customize Ribbon box, you should see Keyboard Shortcuts. Click the box marked “Customize.” In the text window labeled “Categories,” scroll all the way to the bottom. Select Common Symbols. In the text window on the right, you will see Em Dash and En Dash. If you select one, you can see if a key combination has already been assigned to it in the window labeled “Current keys.” If one has not, or if you want to change the current keys, enter a combination of keys in the box under “Press new shortcut key.” I have set up my version of Word so that Ctrl+1 creates an em dash and Ctrl+2 creates an en dash.

If you are using  Word  on a Mac, click Insert  > Symbols > Advanced Symbol > Special Characters. You will see a list of special characters, including the dashes, and an option to assign keyboard shortcuts.

On most versions of  Word , AutoCorrect creates dashes automatically in some cases. If I type a word, two hyphens, and another word and then press space, Word  converts the hyphens to an em dash. If I type a word, press space, enter a hyphen, press space, enter another word, and press space one more time, Word converts the hyphen to an en dash.  Our related post on AutoCorrect  explains how to adjust its settings.

10 Comments

Nicole guenther discenza 08 july 2020 at 09:07 am.

The advice here for Mac users is doing it the hard way. You don't need to CREATE shortcuts to get em-dashes and en-dashes in Word for Mac because they already exist: Option-dash gives you an en-dash: –. Option-shift-dash gives you an em-dash: —. I suggest that you replace the more complicated advice given above with these simple notes on the existing shortcuts in Word for Mac.

Your e-mail address will not be published

Joseph Wallace 13 July 2020 AT 11:07 AM

Thanks for your comment and for letting me know about the default shortcut. Some users might want to create even simpler shortcuts, which is why I provided instructions. I prefer Ctrl+1 for em dashes because I use them so often!

Alberto Cacicedo 08 July 2020 AT 10:07 AM

Option-shift-hyphen gives you an em-dash. Much less effort.

Pamela Brandt 20 July 2020 AT 12:07 PM

Another option is to simply memorize the Alt codes. You can type 0151 to make an em dash.

Joseph Wallace 21 July 2020 AT 09:07 AM

Sophie dungan 10 august 2020 at 11:08 pm.

So, are students meant to use en and em dashes when it comes to the Works Cited list or not? Is it preferable or not?

Also, if en dashes are used for page numbers in the Works Cited list, are en dashes then required throughout the thesis' body? (Consistency and all.)

Joseph Wallace 11 August 2020 AT 11:08 AM

Thanks for the question. Dashes are optional in student writing. But if you use en dashes in the works-cited list, it's best to be consistent and also use them in the body of your essay.

Kelly Cook 15 January 2023 AT 11:01 AM

Thank you for this en-dash article. Would you also use an en-dash for a range of poetic lines as you do for page numbers?

Joseph Wallace 18 January 2023 AT 03:01 PM

Thanks for your question. Yes, you can use an en dash in any numerical range, including line numbers in poetry.

Carl Martin 27 March 2023 AT 02:03 PM

The n-dash is definitely under-appreciated. In the case of "single compound adjectives that are also proper nouns," consider how useful it is to refer to, say, the "anti–Iraq War position." Moreover, many publishers in the UK use it to signal a modifier with relational or "non-identical" elements, like "capital–labor." Very useful, too, for a married couple whose surnames have not been legally joined: "the Phillips–Lynde" vs. "the Phillips-Lynde household."

Join the Conversation

We invite you to comment on this post and exchange ideas with other site visitors. Comments are moderated and subject to terms of service.

If you have a question for the MLA's editors, submit it to Ask the MLA!

Get the Reddit app

How to place a hyphen, en dash, and em dash within a text to give your text a bit of consistency..

As a part of my semester in my English class at university, we're taught how to place an En, Em dash, and hyphen within a text. These English classes are mandatory at my university. I'll appreciate every help offered since this forms half of the final grade this year.

I need to understand how to place these dases and hyphens in my text since, according to my teacher, they give your text consistency in your writing. My uncle is a native English speaker and said almost nobody today uses these dashes except for official work such as; documentation or coursework or when you write something noteworthy.

Are there any native-English speakers who can lend me some tips on this since I gotta confused?

Effective Use of the Hyphen, En Dash, and Em Dash in Legal Writing

Collections

APA (7/e) Style Guide

A note on mechanics of style, mechanics of style, a note on paper elements & format, paper elements & format, a note on building references, building a reference.

• Creating In-Text Citations
• Formatting Tables & Figures
• Citing Textual Resources
• Citing Audiovisual Resources
• Citing Online Resources
• Avoiding Plagiarism
• Citing AI This link opens in a new window

Additional Resources

• Style and Grammar Guidelines (APA 7/e)
• Sample Papers (APA 7/e)
• APA Style Blog
• Purdue OWL APA 7/e Style Guide
• Santa Fe College Lawrence W. Tyree Library APA 7/e Guide
• Brenau University Trustee Library APA 7/e Tutorial

Chapter 6 of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Seventh Edition  is dedicated to the mechanics of style, including: punctuation, spelling, capitalization, italics, abbreviations, numbers, metrication, statistical and mathematical copy, the presentation of equations, and lists. What is presented here is a brief overview on some of these topics based on the rules found in the manual. For more details and exceptions to the rules, be sure to  reference the manual .

• Punctuation
• Capitalization
• Abbreviations

For full information on punctuation, see sections  6.1-6.10  of the APA Publication Manual.

• Use a single space after punctuation marks that end a sentence.
• Use hyphens for compound words. If you are unsure of what spelling of a compound word to use, consult the Spelling tab.
• Word usually converts two hyphens that are typed in together as an em dash. Otherwise, you can use the Insert Symbol function in Word to generate an em dash. The symbol can be found in the General Punctuation subset. 
• You can use the Insert Symbol function in Word to generate an en dash. The symbol can be found in the General Punctuation subset.
• Use parentheses to introduce abbreviations and to denote independent elements (e.g. see Table 1) and in-text citations.
• Use square brackets to enclose material that's already in parentheses, confidence intervals, and form descriptions for certain types of work in a reference list.

For full information on spelling, see sections  6.11-6.12  of the APA Publication Manual.

• For the spelling of general words in APA style, refer to the Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary .
• For the spelling of psychological words in APA style, refer to the APA Dictionary of Psychology .

NOTE: If the two sources conflict with one another, follow the spelling in the APA Dictionary of Psychology .

For full information on capitalization, see sections  6.13-6.21  of the APA Publication Manual.

• titles of works appearing in text
• titles of texts or measures
• all headings
• the title of your paper and all its sections and subsections
• table titles
• figure titles
• titles of works in the reference list
• table column headings, entries, and notes
• figure notes

For full information on abbreviations/acronyms, see sections 6.24-6.31  of the APA Publication Manual.

• Is the abbreviation conventional and/or more familiar than its full name?
• Can you save a considerable amount of space and avoid repetition by using the abbreviation?
• For the first use of an abbreviated term, write the full name of the term followed immediately by the abbreviation in parentheses.
• For all subsequent uses of the term, use the abbreviation.
• Do NOT switch between the full and abbreviated forms.

For full information on numbers, see sections  6.32-6.39  of the APA Publication Manual.

• For  1-9 , express the numbers using  words .
• For 10 and all numbers greater than 10 , express the numbers using numerals .

Chapter 2 of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Seventh Edition  is dedicated to paper elements and format, including: paper sections (e.g. introduction, body, etc.), margins, font, line spacing, headings/sections, etc. What is presented here is a brief overview on some of these topics based on the rules found in the manual. For more details and exceptions to the rules, be sure to  reference the manual .

Note  that the title page and required elements of a paper differ between professional and student papers. The box below contains information on what pertains to  student  papers. However, before creating/formatting your document, be sure to consult with your professor in regards to what format is most appropriate for your assignments.

• Basic Formatting
• Required Elements
• References Page

For full information on formatting, see sections  2.16-2.25  of the APA Publication Manual.

• Use 1-inch margins on all sides.
• Use 11-point Calibri or 11-point Arial for a sans serif font. 
• Use 12-point Times New Roman or 11-point Georgia for a serif font.
• Double space all text.
• Do not add extra spaces between paragraphs.
• Page numbers should be in the upper, right hand corner of the page, beginning with the title page.
• Indent the first line of every paragraph by 0.5 inches.

For full information on what elements belong in a student paper, see section  2.2  of the APA Publication Manual.

Student papers generally contain the following elements :

• page numbers
• reference list

For full information on what belongs on the title page, see sections  2.3-2.10  of the APA Publication Manual.

A student title page should generally contain :

• author name(s)
• author affiliation(s)
• course name and number
• instructor name
• assignment due date
• page number

Student title pages do not generally contain the elements noted below unless specifically requested by the professor:

• author note(s)
• running head

For full information on how to format headings, see section  2.27  of the APA Publication Manual.

• There are five heading levels in APA, starting with level 1 and ending with level 5.
• Each level is intended for use as subsections of the previous level.
• Your introduction section does not need a heading.
• Each new section begins with heading level 1.
• Format each heading level as follows:

Table 2.3 Format for Five Levels of Heading in APA Style

Note. From Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.) , by American Psychological Association, 2020, p. 48 ( https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000 ). Copyright 2020 by the American Psychological Association. 

For full information on how to format your reference list, see sections  2.12  and 9.43-9.42  of the APA Publication Manual.

The general format of a reference list follows some basic rules:

• The reference list starts on a new page after the text and before any tables, figures, or appendices.
• The list should be labeled References in bold and centered at the top of the page.
• Double space all reference entries both within and between entries.
• The first line of a reference should align with your left margin.  All subsequent lines of a reference should be indented 0.5 inches from the margin.
• Order your references alphabetically by last name.

The Reference Elements section of Chapter 9 of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Seventh Edition  is dedicated to what should be included in a reference.  Each entry in your reference list usually contains the following information, in this order: author(s), date of publication, title of work, and source where you can retrieve the work.  What is presented here is a brief overview on some of these topics based on the rules found in the manual.  For more details and exceptions to the rules, be sure to  reference the manual .

For full information on formatting author names in your reference list, see sections  9.7-9.12  of the APA Publication Manual.

• Authors are listed by surname and initial(s) (e.g. Watson, J. H.).
• If there is more than one author, use commas to separate their names. 
• For two to 20 authors, use an ampersand (&) before the last author.
• If there are 20 or fewer authors, you must list out all of the authors.
• If there are 21 or more authors, you must list out the first 19, add an ellipsis, and then list the last author's name.
• If there is no author, move the title to the author position, before the date of publication.

For full information on formatting publication dates in you reference list, see sections  9.13-9.17  of the APA Publication Manual.

• Dates are listed in parentheses followed by a period.
• For books, use the date listed on the copyright page.
• For journal articles, use the date of the volume.
• For webpages and websites, make sure that the date applies specifically to the content you are using.
• If a work has no date, list the date element as (n.d.). 

For full information on formatting titles in your reference list, see sections  9.18-9.22  of the APA Publication Manual.

• Use sentence case capitalization for titles.
• For references that have additional title/identifying information (e.g. edition, volume, etc.), place any additional information in parentheses after the title of the reference. Separate multiple pieces of information with commas.
• If your reference doesn't have a title, put a description of the work in square brackets in the title section.

For full information on formatting source information in your reference list, see sections  9.23-9.37  of the APA Publication Manual.

• For books, include the publisher's name as well as any applicable DOIs or URLs.
• For journal articles, include the journal's information (i.e. title, volume, issue, and page or article numbers) as well as any applicable DOIs or URLs.
• For social media posts, include the site name and the URL.
• For websites and webpages, include the website name and the URL.
• If your reference doesn't have a source, you can't include it in the reference list.

NOTE: If your reference contains a URL, make sure that the URL works and that it points directly to the reference.

• << Previous: Home
• Next: Creating In-Text Citations >>
• Last Updated: Nov 13, 2023 2:43 PM
• URL: https://guides.library.nymc.edu/APA7

Stack Exchange Network

Stack Exchange network consists of 183 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow , the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers.

Q&A for work

Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search.

Is the em dash used in formal writing?

Is it valid to use em dashes in formal writing? My teacher said it's informal to use em dashes under any circumstances, so I just wanted to make sure. I've gone through several related questions in here but there is no direct answer.

This was my sentence: 'In fact, as shown in latest statistics, 12.5% of America’s citizens are African Americans—who most of them are descendants of enslaved people—and they are all treated equally.' It was in a paragraph about slavery.

• punctuation

• I think you're missing a lot of important information needed to answer the question, including: how the em dash(es) will be used, what type of formal writing, are you using a style guide. Also, linking to the questions you looked at but did not solve your problem is also important because questions need to show research effort. Please edit your question to address this. –  Laurel ♦ Commented Feb 27, 2018 at 0:32
• 1 It sounds odd to exclude a punctuation mark from formal writing altogether. Try asking your teacher for a style guide that backs up that assertion. –  Lawrence Commented Feb 27, 2018 at 1:27
• 2 The em dash is not informal. You can find plenty of examples in formal writing. Where you won't find it is in informal writing! The teacher is just criticizing your using it in a place where you could either split your sentence into two or use a different type of subordinating construction. –  user31341 Commented Feb 27, 2018 at 2:18
• 3 So did you mean em dashes as opposed to en dashes, or just dashes in general? –  Cerberus - Reinstate Monica Commented Feb 27, 2018 at 2:52
• 3 Just an aside about your aside: who most of them are sounds (at best) informal; I'd replace that phrase with most of whom are . –  Toby Speight Commented Feb 27, 2018 at 9:07

3 Answers 3

Em dashes can be used if allowed by your style guide (but don't use them too often). For example, this is what APA says:

First, when would you use an em dash? The Publication Manual (p. 97) notes that em dashes are “used to set off an element added to amplify or to digress from the main clause.” The em dash draws a reader’s attention, partly because of the physical separation that the longer dash creates and partly because these dashes appear less frequently than hyphens and en dashes. The novelty of the em dash makes it perfect for text that you want to stand out. An em dash might set off a phrase at the end of a sentence—like this one. Or, em dashes may set off a phrase midsentence—a technique that really draws a reader’s attention—as they do in this sentence. The text between the dashes is typically a digression or outright interruption of the main idea of the sentence. When used with care, this technique can really punctuate your point (pun intended)! But “overuse,” notes the Publication Manual (p. 90), “weakens the flow of material.” One sentence with a phrase set off by em dashes draws the reader’s attention; but frequent interruptions of this type risk making your text seem disjointed or cumbersome. APA Blog: Computer Editing Tip: Em Dashes

In contrast, there are also sources that advise against using the em dash in formal texts:

[E]m dashes should be avoided in formal technical information if you want your tone to be neutral and direct. Because the em dash draws attention to the content that it sets off so strongly, it adds a level of informality to the text. If you write less formal information, such as marketing information, you can use em dashes for emphasis. Developing Quality Technical Information: A Handbook for Writers and Editors

• 1 It should be noted that your second quotation seems to be about parenthetical dashes in general—not em dashes specifically. I'm not entirely sure whether Ghassan meant dashes in general or just em dashes, and the quotation seems to mean dashes in general as well. –  Cerberus - Reinstate Monica Commented Feb 27, 2018 at 2:51

Yes, the em dash is used in formal writing.

This is more of a life lesson rather than a question of if an em dash is formal or informal. I think the real question is whether it's allowed. If your teacher says not to use it then do not use it for work that is submitted to your teacher.

As far as if an em dash can be used in formal writing, it certainly can if it is allowed (see above). I haven't had a problem with having em dashes in my manuscripts that were published in peer-reviewed journals such as "Energy and Fuels" that use the American Chemical Society Style Guide (ACSSG). In the ACSSG not only is the use of the em dash not prohibited, there is mention of how to use it and an example of a proofreader's mark for inserting an em dash. However the ACSSG states "do not use em dashes to separate phrases or nonrestrictive clauses if another form of punctuation can be used".

• Welcome to EL&U. Please consider editing your answer to make it clearer what your answer to the original question is. –  Rupert Morrish Commented Feb 27, 2018 at 2:58
• Thanks! Edited to state that they are used in formal writing. –  m_a_s Commented Feb 27, 2018 at 3:12

Most authors are uninterested in such details. and wouldn't notice the difference if their paycheques depended on it.

Typographers need to know which dashes to use, but only for consistency.

Sub-editors are there to interpret between the two groups.

Sadly all of that is traditional and theoretical and given that today, Joe Author can send almost anything straight to print with no interference - for which traditionally read help, assistance or correction - from anyone else, every such Question is increasingly meaningless.

Your Answer

Sign up or log in, post as a guest.

Required, but never shown

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy .

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged punctuation formality writing dashes or ask your own question .

• Featured on Meta
• Upcoming initiatives on Stack Overflow and across the Stack Exchange network...
• We spent a sprint addressing your requests — here’s how it went

Hot Network Questions

• Con permiso to enter your own house?
• Is there a way to do artificial gravity testing of spacecraft on the ground in KSP?
• Does it make sense to describe change in Pearson's correlation coefficient in percentage terms?
• Why didn't Jimmy Neutron realize immediately when he read the note on the refrigerator that the note is phony, as the note says "son or daughter..."?
• Why is Uranus colder than Neptune?
• Do we know a lower bound or the exact number of 3-way races in France's 2nd round of elections in 2024?
• Orange marks on ceiling underneath bathroom
• Imagining Graham's number in your head collapses your head to a black hole
• Line from Song KÄMPFERHERZ
• Wait a minute, this *is* 1 across!
• What is the value of air anisotropy?
• Questions about mail-in ballot
• In the UK, how do scientists address each other?
• Why is pressure in the outermost layer of a star lower than at its center?
• Did the German justice system convict a woman for insulting a person who gang raped a minor?
• Can you help me to identify the aircraft in a 1920s photograph?
• PCIe implementation
• Identify rear derailleur (Shimano 105 - medium or short)
• Did Tolkien give his son explicit permission to publish all that unfinished material?
• Why does the Trump immunity decision further delay the trial?
• As an advisor, how can I help students with time management and procrastination?
• Books using the axiomatic method
• How does this switch work on each press?
• If a lambda is declared as a default argument, is it different for each call site?

Dr. Mark Womack

Hyphens [ - ] and Dashes [ – ] [ — ]

Hyphens and dashes come in different sizes and serve different functions. Don’t confuse them or use them interchangeably.

Hyphens [ - ] are shorter than dashes.

Dashes come in two sizes: the short en dash [ – ] and the long em dash [ — ]. An em dash is as wide as a capital M ; the en dash is half that wide.

A hyphen [ - ] connects compound words and phrases.

The most common use of the hyphen is in phrasal adjectives . Phrasal adjectives are two or more words that together modify the noun that follows them. In other words, a phrase that works like an adjective.

Follow the easy - to - read instructions. High - school students look forward to summer vacation. Write a two - to three - page paper on the meaning of “hende.” Professor Snow is an expert in seventeenth - century poetry.

Do not hyphenate phrases that follow the noun they modify.

The instructions are easy to read . Students in high school look forward to summer vacation.

And never hyphenate phrasal adjective that begin with an – ly adverb.

Lisa’s pleasantly plump figure attracted plenty of attention. The mob demanded justice from their newly crowned king.

The hyphens in phrasal adjectives can help clarify your meaning. For instance, ten dollar bills are worth a total of $10, but ten-dollar bills are worth $10 each.

An en dash [ – ] can indicate a range or an opposition. When used in a range, the en dash means “x to y”; when used in an opposition, it means “x versus y.”

During Shakespeare’s lifetime (1564 — 1616), England had two monarchs. In lines 60 — 66 Macbeth contemplates the enormity of his guilt. The London — Rome flight arrived two hours late.

Opposition:

The Thrilla in Manila was the final Ali — Frazier match. A conservative — liberal division defines much of American politics.

Ill-educated writers often place a slash [ / ] between opposing terms rather than an en dash – “the nature/nurture debate” instead of “the nature—nurture debate.” Now you know better.

An em dash [ — ] signals a pause or interruption in the sentence. In pairs they can enclose supplemental material (like parentheses do) and alone they can introduce things: just like colons.

Johnson argues that our pop culture – specifically video games and television shows – has become more complex and cognitively demanding than we realize. Vermeer’s The Milkmaid – a masterpiece that uses lighting, composition, and color to create a deep sense of harmony and balance – might initially seem like just a run-of-the-mill genre painting. Hitchcock planned out every element that makes the shower scene in Psycho so effective – quick cutting, expressionist camera angles, screeching background music – before he ever started filming.

Most of the typical ingredients of Shakespearean comedy appear in The Taming of the Shrew – witty wordplay, disguise, the double plot, meta-theater, even cross-dressing. Your essay seems unfocused because it lacks a key element – a clear thesis statement.

You can put spaces before and after the em dash – like this – or set them flush with the surrounding text–like this. I prefer spacing em dashes because doing so helps to distinguish them from hyphens and en dashes.

Typing Dashes

Typewriters had to simulate dashes with hyphens. Simulated dashes look clumsy and amateurish – whereas true en dashes and em dashes make your writing look polished and professional. So learn how your word processor works and start using real dashes.

You can set up most word processors to insert an em dash when you type two hyphens in a row, turning [ -- ] into [ — ] automatically.

Grammar-Quizzes › More Practices › Writing Aids › Punctuation › Dashes (em dash)

Dashes (em dash)

Set content off from the rest of the sentence, dashes vs. other punctuation.

Compare dashes, parentheses and commas Extra Comments .

When a dash is used for attribution, the quote is aligned right and the attribution is placed on a separate line. (GREGG 212)

Also see identifying (restrictive) vs. nonidentifying (nonrestrictive) clauses, That vs. Which Clause .

Comparative length and use

Hyphen, en dash, and em dash.

kiwi is shortened from kiwi fruit (singular or plural).

Dash with spaces or no spaces?  "Because columns in print are usually narrow, with few words to a line, the dash should be surrounded by spaces; they provide openings for the computer to distribute spacing evenly when justifying type."  (NYTM 88)

CMOS (Chicago Manual of Syles), NYTM (New York Times Manual); see Punctuation Notes below.

Also see Hyphens and Number Modifiers .

Common Mistakes

Errors and solutions, error and solution.

Punctuation Notes

Typing dashes & usage notes.

Also see AP Style Book (327) "Punctuation: dash"; APA 4.06 "Dash", 4.13 em dash, 2.12 "Footnotes", 4.15 in headings and titles; MLA  2.7. "Multiple Works by One Author".

Style Manual Abbreviations : AP (Associated Press) , APA (American Psychological Association), CMOS (Chicago Manual of Style) , GREGG (Gregg Reference Manual) ; MLA (Modern Language Association) , NYTM (New York Times Manual of Style and Usage) .

Works Cited

• The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law. Edited by Thomas Kent, et al., 51st ed., AP, 2016.
• The Chicago Manual of Style. 16th ed., U of Chicago P, 2010. 
• MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 7th ed., Modern Language Association of America, 2009.
• Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th ed., American Psychological Association, 2010. 
• The Gregg Reference Manual. Edited by William A. Sabin, 11th ed., McGraw-Hill Education, 2011.
• The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage. By Allan M. Siegal, William G. Connolly, Revised by Philip B. Corbet et al., 5th Ed. Three Rivers Press, 2015.
• The Purdue OWL . Purdue U Writing Lab, 2016, owl.english.purdue.edu/owl .

Is the dash used correctly?

• Select the option: correct or incorrect.
• Read the feedback to check your response.

• Dissertation & Thesis
• Faculty Finder
• Hands on Experience
• Institutional Review Board
• Licensure & Certification
• Office of Sponsored Programs
• Program Manuals
• Writing Resources
• Bouchet Society
• Career Services
• Commencement
• First Generation Students
• McNair Scholars Program
• Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access
• Student Life & Events
• The Chicago School Merchandise
• ADA Services
• Campus Safety
• Counseling Services
• Global Engagement
• Help Desk Portal
• Information Technology
• Military & Veteran Student Services
• Registrar Services
• Student Community Standards
• Student Support Services
• Student Wellness

Dashes and Hyphens //

• OSWL Website
• Writing and Statistics Reviews
• OSWL Events
• Writing Support Courses

​Dashes and Hyphens

Explanation and example.

​I tested two participants—one from my control group and one from my experiment group—and both passed.

​​I missed the Chicago–Atlanta flight, and so now I’m being rerouted through Miami.

Participants ranged in age from 8–10 years old.   ( Note : preference here would be to use the word "to," like this: Participants ranged in age from 8 to 10 years old​.)

This was a six-trial study. I wanted to talk to the ninth-grade students. The book discussed middle-class families and urban sprawl. I called Group A the hat-wearing group. (this is a temporary compound!) The client is a 58-year-old female. ( Note:  there is no hyphen when the age follows the subject, like this: The client is 58 years old.)

Pretest, posttest, semistructured, reevaluate, nonessential

a - b = c -6.5%

WHERE TO FIND MORE INFORMATION

Additional resources.

Help Is At Hand!

Brackets, Dashes, Ellipses, Hyphens

This page discusses many of the less often discussed types of punctuation. It differentiates, for example, between dashes and the two different types of hyphen. It also discusses brackets (but not parentheses) and ellipses…nothing else though.

Brackets [ ]

Brackets are used to interject or set aside other text, and as a general rule the font face should match the surrounding text “rather than the material they enclose” (Chicago 241). That said, I sometimes adjust that, particularly if the fonts fit awkwardly together or I directly address the reader (see below).

Note: Parentheses are sometimes called round, oval, or curved brackets. There is a separate page for them.

1. Use brackets to add editorial content. When, for example, no date is given for a website or other publication, bibliographic citations explain that with [n.d.] for ‘no date’. [Does this make sense to you? -bd]

2. Use brackets to add material to quoted text. Examples:

Full quote: “Use four points to indicate any omission between two sentences ; the first point indicates the period at the end of the first sentence quoted and the three spaced ellipses points follow.”

Shortened quote: “Use four points to indicate any omission between two sentences … [T]he first point indicates the period at the end of the first sentence quoted ….”

Use ellipsis and a bracketed capital (e.g., “ [T]he fox in the hen house.”) to indicate that the text has been changed by the quoting author from one sentence to two.

Note: The Chicago Manual of Style (CMS) suggests the use of an ellipsis for any omitted word, phrase, line, or paragraph from within but not at the end of a quoted passage. They would leave off the ellipses after the word quoted above.

3. In translation, use square brackets to add a word or phrase to ensure clarity (i.e., avoid ambiguity).

4. Angle brackets < > are sometimes used to set off URLs and e-mail addresses. This should be avoided unless your discipline’s style sheet expressly mandates it. MLA has not used angle brackets (or web addresses) in Works Cited entries since 2009. Instead, if the material is to be mounted online, make a live link. Otherwise, if the item is correctly cited, the reader can easily google it.

5. Curly brackets { } are most often used in math, computer programming, and physics. In general, omit them in other writing. Curly brackets indicate a series of equal choices. Example: My cats prefer their catnip in small stuffed toys {bunny, carrot, mouse, guitar} and lick them to extract the ‘nip.

Dashes: – (n-dash) — (m-dash)

Important: Do not confuse hyphens with dashes. This can get confusing. The Chicago Manual of Style Online explains it this way: “there are three lengths of what are all more or less dashes: hyphen (-), en dash (–), and em dash (—)….[T]he work they do is roughly related to their length.”

Hyphens (-) connect two or more words or numbers into a single concept, especially for building adjectives. Note:  A dash is twice as long as a hyphen, so two dashes are frequently used to substitute for a hyphen.

Dashes (—) in general, 1) indicate an interruption, 2) substitute for parenthesis, or 3) stand in (like colons) for that is, they are, or similar expressions.

More on hyphens later. First, the dashes.

Why the names?  The letter ‘m’ is roughly twice the width of the ‘n’. There are two kinds of dashes, the m-dash and the n-dash. They are called that because each is normed by the width of the letter designating it. While these were clear and easy to manage for typesetters, digitally they can be a bit tricky. How can they be achieved? At least in 2014, it works this way:

• Microsoft Word requires that the writer go from the Insert pulldown menu to Symbol, and then Special Characters, where the m-dash and n-dash are clearly labled.
• In html, the m- and n-dashes are coded as &mdash; and &ndash; respectively.  Simply type them in that way when writing code. The better coding software makes it easy to insert special characters, using a system very similar to Microsoft Word’s. Dreamweaver, for example, requires that the author use the Insert pulldown, choose ‘html’,  and then select ‘Special Characters’.

When should each be used?

1. The n-dash (–) denotes 1) anything related by distance, and 2) to bridge open compounds. [Note that I use hyphens in n-dash and m-dash. -bd.]

The n-dash is most often used to connect numbers, and in that context means ‘up to and including’ or ‘through’ (e.g., one through three = 1–3).

Use the n-dash with nothing following if the span continues.

Examples: 1) Professor Spedunk’s Postmodern English Literature (1980–) is taught only in the spring. 2) Barak Obama (1961–) is the 44th President of the United States.

The CMS explains this example by suggesting that it’s “not a May-September (hyphen) issue, because June, July, and August are also ostensibly included in this range.” For my taste, that’s pushing it. Do note the difference in width between the hyphen and the n-dash -bd.

The n-dash can be used to indicate any span of pages, so they’re useful in indexes and such.

2. The m-dash (—) has several uses.

Ellipsis (plural ellipses )

An ellipsis—the omission of any text, however long or short—is indicated by ellipsis points, which are just dots. An ellipsis is most usually indicated by three dots, sometimes preceded or followed by other punctuation. 2 Use ellipses when words are omitted or there is a pause in the flow of time. (Pet owner when training dog not to snap at food: wait for it…wait for it… .) Elipses are used to indicate the omission of quoted material. (The addition of material to quoted text is shown with brackets.) Style books vary widely in the ways elipses are used and how they are styled, so review the newest version of your preferred style book.

Other punctuation may precede or follow ellipses for ease of reading:

• “John loves apples, oranges, … and cherries.”
• “To be or not to be. That is the question.”
• “To be or not …. is the question.”

Five Hyphen Rules

Authorities probably disagree on hyphenation more than on any other punctuation mark. And indeed, there are too many rules for this site to list. (The index entries for hyphen and hyphenation in the 16th edition of the Chicago Manual of Style , for example, is an entire column long and spans several categories.)  Therefore, the following rules should be considered as broad guidelines only. For particular usage questions, check with the appropriate style book.

1. Hyphens Between Words

NOTE: All these words had to be looked up in a dictionary to know what to do with them, and dictionaries differ in the decisions they make. A publication or organization should probably make one decision about what dictionary is to be officially used and stick with it (at least so long as the logic for the choice remains valid).  Why just one? Because otherwise stylistic variances will creep into the body of writing. This is particularly important if the writing is for a particular publication, agency, or firm. For example, Purdue OWL indicates that one dictionary it checked “listed hairstylist while another used hair stylist.” A quick check indicated that Dictionary.com showed both usages with the two word version as first usage, while Merriam-Webster had two entries, though each showed the same meaning. The Brits at Cambridge Dictionary Online showed only the single word without a hyphen, and not the hyphenated or two word version.

• The engine will eventually break down . (verb)
• We suffered a breakdown in communications. (noun)
• To air-condition the doghouse will be ridiculously expensive
• We were notified that management will downsize the organization next year.
• well-known actress BUT The actress is well known.
• his easy-going nature BUT By nature, he is easy going.
• one-way street BUT This street is one way.
• Approximately three-fourths of the class is doing well.
• Eighty-five pencils are missing from the office.

2. Hyphens with -ly words

• friendly-looking man Here, friendly modifies looking and is an adjective describing man .
• friendly little girl But here, friendly tells us nothing about the size of the child , so the meaning is clear and no hyphen is needed.
• brightly lit room Brightly is an adverb which cannot be used to describe room (not brightly room, but brightly lit).

3. Hyphens with Prefixes

• Examples where hyphen is not needed because of long use: noncompliance, copayment, semiconscious, fortyish
• Exceptions .   
• Avoid three l’s in a row, which can cause pronunciation problems: The bell-like tone. The cell-locking system.
• Use the hyphen with compound words or words already hyphenated: non-civil service position .
• un-American but House Un-American Activities Committee (The latter is a proper noun, the name of an organization.)
• pre-Columbian art sale or Pre-Columbian art sale (capitalization varies)
• ultra-ambitious
• semi-invalid
• preemployment

         Exceptions

• de-emphasize,
• co-owner (check your dictionary of choice)
• antiaircraft
• self-assured
• self-respect
• self-addressed

4. Hyphens with re Words Use the hyphen with the prefix re only when: a. the re means again , AND b. omitting the hyphen would cause confusion with another word.       Examples

• The stamps have been reissued. Re means again BUT would not cause confusion with another word.
• I must re-press the shirt. Re means again AND omitting the hyphen would have caused confusion with another word: She repressed the memory.

5. Numbers needing hyphens

• She has seventeen awards, but George as twenty-one.
• The school earned a total of two hundred thirty-four awards this year.
• Two thirds of the students prefer pizza. (Students is a noun)
• Two-thirds of the student athletes prefer pizza. (Student is an adjective here.)

1. In a bibliography, some systems use three M-dashs for the second and later entry of the author’s name to indicate repeated works by the same author. I tend to discourage this usage because it’s not all that hard to do copy/paste these days and the dashes can lead to confusion, particularly if there is a page break. -bd [ back ]

2.  In addition to the three dot method, The Chicago Manual of Style indicates two other possibilities (the three-or-four-dot method and the rigorous method). In general, you can ignore those unless a publisher or professor indicates otherwise. [ back ]

Bibliography

Cambridge Dictionaries Online .  The Cambridge University Press. n.d. Web. 30 July 2014.

The Chicago Manual of Style Online. 16th ed. University of Chicago Press, 2010. Web. 8 July 2014.

Corbett, Phillip. “ After Deadline: Newsroom Notes on Usage and Style. ” The New York Times. 13. April 2010. Web. Found 30 May 2014.

“ Hyphens. ” The Chicago Manual of Style. 16th ed. University of Chicago Press. 2010. Web. Found 3 July 2014.

“Hypens.” The Owl at Purdue. (PDF) Purdue University. 2005. Web. Found 3 July 2014.

The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 7th ed., Modern Language Association of America, 2009.

Purdue University . The Owl at Purdue.   2005. Web. Found 4 December 2005.

“Q&A.” The Chicago Manual of Style Online . The Chicago Manual of Style. Chicago University Press, 2010. Web. Found 30 May 2014.

Comments are closed.

• Search for:

Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

Punctuation—Semicolons, Colons, and Parentheses

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

A number of other punctuation marks are used less frequently, but still play important roles in English writing. Semicolons (;) are used to combine sentences into larger ones. Unlike the use of commas to combine very short sentences, semicolons are used for combining relatively longer sentences.

Semicolons are often used for combining sentences that are very closely related:

• The rising costs of medicines and medical equipment are large factors in making health insurance more expensive; employers cannot afford those costs, and they have to pass them on to employees.

Colons (:) are used at the beginning of lists of several or more items, or as a substitute for “it is, “they are,” or similar expressions:

• These are the major steps in applying for college: finding schools that have the major you want to study, filling out applications, asking for letters of recommendation, taking the SAT or ACT, and ordering official transcripts from your previous schools.
• There is only one thing to do: talk to your daughter’s teacher about it.

Parentheses () are used to say something that is important to the main message you are writing but is not an immediate part of it, something that would interrupt the flow of your writing if you didn’t keep it separate from everything else:

• Sang-hoon finished typing the report and saved multiple copies of it two hours after his supervisor gave the information to him (he types 85 words per minute).
• The overnight managers (Connie on weekdays, John on weekends) will prepare bakery goods, coffee, and tea before the morning shift arrives.

• Walden University
• Faculty Portal

Punctuation: Dashes

Basics of dashes.

There are two types of dashes in APA style: en dashes and em dashes. The en dash is shorter, named after the width of the letter "n," and the em dash is longer, named after the width of the letter "m." Each has distinct uses in writing. For both en dashes and em dashes, do not put any spaces before or after the dashes.

Use an en dash for ranges of numbers (e.g., 3–7) and to connect two terms in an equal relationship (e.g., test–retest). Do not confuse en dashes with hyphens. Although they may look the same, they are usually a little longer than hyphens in most font types such as Times New Roman.

Use em dashes to set off a phrase in a sentence—such as this one—but use them only sparingly.

Didn't find what you need? Email us at [email protected] .

• Previous Page: Commas
• Next Page: Hyphens
• Office of Student Disability Services

Walden Resources

Departments.

• Academic Residencies
• Academic Skills
• Career Planning and Development
• Customer Care Team
• Field Experience
• Military Services
• Student Success Advising
• Writing Skills

Centers and Offices

• Center for Social Change
• Office of Academic Support and Instructional Services
• Office of Degree Acceleration
• Office of Research and Doctoral Services
• Office of Student Affairs

Student Resources

• Doctoral Writing Assessment
• Form & Style Review
• Quick Answers
• ScholarWorks
• SKIL Courses and Workshops
• Walden Bookstore
• Walden Catalog & Student Handbook
• Student Safety/Title IX
• Legal & Consumer Information
• Website Terms and Conditions
• Cookie Policy
• Accessibility
• Accreditation
• State Authorization
• Net Price Calculator
• Contact Walden

Walden University is a member of Adtalem Global Education, Inc. www.adtalem.com Walden University is certified to operate by SCHEV © 2024 Walden University LLC. All rights reserved.

• Rules/Help/FAQ Help/FAQ
• Members Current visitors
• Interface Language

Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.

Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.

• English Only

em dash usage.

• Thread starter skyfox007
• Start date Aug 20, 2022

Senior Member

• Aug 20, 2022

Hey guys, I saw an example of em dash usage from owl purdue ( https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/english_..._students/punctuation/hyphens_and_dashes.html ) and have a few questions. Why would you use an em dash in a situation like this? The broken thought is clearly an independent clause and not just some broken off thought. Why not split them up like in (2)? Also, why even use a comma after would? And do you guys recommend the usage of the dashes in formal writing? 1. Mr. Lee is suited to the job—he has more experience than everybody else in the department—but he has been having some difficulties at home recently, and would probably not be available. 2. Mr. Lee is suited to the job; he has more experience than everyone else in the department, but he has been having some difficulties at home recently and would probably not be available.  

skyfox007 said: Why not split them up like in (2)? Click to expand...

Keith Bradford

• You can (as in this example) use parentheses.
• You can, as in this example, use commas.
• You can -- as in this example -- use dashes.