What are hyphens and

dashes?

Grammar Toolkit

Hyphens and dashes

Grammar Toolkit

Hyphens and dashes

The main use of hyphens is to join two or more words into compound words. A dictionary will usually tell you whether or not to use a hyphen, and how to break a word at

the end of a line of your writing.

When a prefix is added to a word, a hyphen is sometimes needed to avoid confusion.

ex-actor co-author non-English

Hyphens also separate letters when a word is spelled out letter by letter, such as a-e-i-o-u.

red-hot chilli three-stage processmother-in-law merry-go-roundthree-quarters twenty-eight

compound adjectives

compound nouns

numbers and fractions

Grammar Toolkit

Hyphens and dashes

An en dash is the length of a printed n. Its main use is to connect numbers and sometimes words.

In ranges of dates, times and page numbers, an en dash means “up to and including”.

April–June pages 17–26 2003–09

In other uses, the en dash means “to”.

The London–Paris train leaves at two o’clock.Australia has defeated New Zealand, 44–41.

Find the keystroke in your computer’s word processor that makes an en dash.

Grammar Toolkit

Hyphens and dashes

An em dash, or simply a dash, is the length of a printed m. It makes a sharp break in a

sentence and can be used like:

Give the bicycle to my dad—we call him Mr Fix It—to get it repaired.• parentheses, in pairs

Find the keystroke in your computer’s word processor that makes an em dash.

We discussed our plan—a plan that would give us victory!• a comma

Lunchbox, jacket, hat, library bag—he forgot everything.• a colon

Grammar Toolkit

Hyphens and dashes

Insert a dash or hyphen in the spaces marked with arrows.

One third of the attacks were by man eating sharks.

Will he can he be here on time?

She’s got everything we need crews, nuts, bolts and tools.

You’ll find the answers on pages 7 11.

That’s a glorious 150 year old tree in your garden.

Flinders sailed around Australia from 1801 05.

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— —

—

–

-

–

hyphens

em dashes

em dash

en dash

hyphen

en dash

Grammar Toolkit

Hyphens and dashes

• Punctuation helps others to understand our writing.• Hyphens (-) are mainly to join two or more words to make

compounds words (e.g. cross-eyed) and to avoid confusion when adding prefixes (e.g. re-employ).

• An en dash or rule (–) is longer than a hyphen and connects numbers and words, mainly in ranges of dates, times and page numbers (e.g. pages 90–99).

• An em dash or rule (—) is longer than an en dash and makes a sharp break in a sentence. They can be used as parentheses, commas and colons (e.g. That’s enough—I can take no more.).

• Different word processing software uses different ways to insert en dashes and em dashes.

Grammar Toolkit

Hyphens and dashes

The End