dashes

There are two types of dashes (both of which are different than a hyphen; see separate section on hyphenation). An en dash looks like this – and is longer than a hyphen but shorter than an em dash (which looks like this —). The en dash is about as big as an N, an em dash an M, hence the names. Do not put spaces around dashes. Note this is a departure from AP Style.

An en dash is used for showing ranges of numbers, especially time periods (3–6 p.m.; May–June; November 1–5, 2014). Use two en dashes in this sentence: The temperature range in summer is 80–100 degrees, and people ages 60–80 are most likely to get heat stroke. Microsoft Word will auto-insert an en dash when you type a hyphen with a space on each side (you have to go back and delete the spaces) or when using a Mac, use apple+num-hyphen to insert an en dash.

An em dash is used in running text like parentheses or a semicolon, or to offset a point for emphasis: The caramel macadamia brownies—which she made from scratch—were still warm when I arrived. In Microsoft Word, type “scratch–were” (two hyphens together) and then space, and Word will auto correct, or when using a Mac, type option+shift+hyphen.