Three Types of dashes
Hyphen
- Connects compounded words: front-end, mass-produced, or group numbers.
- There is no spacing on either side.
- Can be created by hitting the minus sign
En-dash
- called this because it is the length of a capital “N.”
- Is used in ranges: 6–10 years, 1997–2017
- There is no spacing on either side.
- Can be created by:
- On a Mac: option and hyphen (“-“ )
- On a PC: Ctrl + minus (Please note: Num Lock must be enabled and you must use the minus key on the numeric keypad.)
Em-dash
- called this because it is the length of a capital “M.”
- Used for interrupted dialogue or as a parenthesis in the middle of a sentence—a thought interrupting another thought.
- There is no spacing on either side.
- Can be created by:
- In scriptwriting, you create it by hitting a double hyphen. You don't use the long m dash "—".
- If you decide to use it in an essay (not in a screenplay):
- On a Mac: option + shift and hyphen (“-“).
- On a PC: Ctrl + Alt + minus (Please note: Num Lock must be enabled and you must use the minus key on the numeric keypad.)
Ellipsis (…)
- Used for the omission of words.
- Can be used for the trailing off of thought or showing a hesitation.
- Don’t over-use.