Writing blogs? Punctuate for clarity!

Part 1: How to use dashes and hyphens

The hyphen

A hyphen (-) is shorter (and often thicker) than a dash. The only use we have for a hyphen is to connect two words, thus making them into compound words; or to combine two (or more) syllables of a word that is divided in two by a line break.

Example: a five-hour day

The dash

A dash (–) (or en-rule dash/en-dash) is longer (and usually thinner) than a hyphen. The dash has several uses, the most common one being that of a pause or division between two clauses in a sentence. The dash usually marks a more emphasised break, between the main clause and the subordinate clause, than the comma would do. (It’s very useful in a sentence that already has a few commas in there; you will find that a dash in the right place will make the reading flow better.) In this case, the dash is always preceded by a character space as well as followed by one.

Example: This is the main clause – this isn’t.

A dashingly confusing thing

When we use the dash as a replacement for the word “to” there should never be spaces before or after the dash. Please note that the “to” mark can never be replaced by a hyphen.

Example: Auckland–Wellington, 12–14 August.

N.B. If the words connected with a dash are preceded by the word ‘from’ or ‘between’ you should refrain from using a dash and instead use the appropriate prepositions and conjunctions: ‘From Auckland to Wellington’, ‘Between Auckland and Wellington’.

Sometimes the dash can be used in place of a slash (/). When creating combined words out of two place names, company names, brands, sub-brands or concepts, the dash can be used instead of the slash.

Example: an Audi–Skoda enterprise.

Two varieties

There are two varieties of dashes, the em-dash (—) (or em-rule) and the en-dash (–) (or en-rule). These days the en-dash has on many occasions replaced the em-dash, which is only seen rarely in, for instance, some traditionally type-set American novels. Having said that, if you use the em-dash as a divider (or pause) between the main clause and a subordinate one, you don’t have to worry about where to add spaces or where not to add them.

It seems that the em-dash has made a bit of a return lately, which could be attributed to a continuous influence from the States. If so, good on yer, Em!