En Dash

by David Harris // October 10  

The en dash is an adaptable punctuation mark suitable for many different applications. When it comes to width, an en dash falls somewhere between a hyphen and an em dash and makes an excellent way to create breaks that are less abrupt or drastic.

The en dash can connect two words or phrases and represent ranges of values. Additionally, it can create compound adjectives. By employing it this way, an en dash adds flair while maintaining professionalism in writing.

An en dash can be used in various ways as an effective punctuation mark. When it comes to width, an en dash is wider than both hyphens and em dashes – making it an excellent way to create breaks in text.

The en dash is slightly wider than a hyphen and links (or joins) words or phrases together. Additionally, it can replace hyphens when one element in a compound adjective contains open compounds joined by spaces (two words joined without connecting words) or when following nouns as their noun.

En dashes can be an essential tool for width for various reasons. First, they can be used to indicate spans or ranges of numbers such as dates (e.g., “July 4-July 8”) or scores (e.g., “3-0”). Second, en dashes can be used when one element in an open compound requires it (e.g., “New York-based company”). And thirdly, en dashes may replace a hyphen when appearing at the end of a line (e.g., “left-hand side” becomes “left-hand side”).

About the Author

David Harris is a content writer at Adazing with 20 years of experience navigating the ever-evolving worlds of publishing and technology. Equal parts editor, tech enthusiast, and caffeine connoisseur, he’s spent decades turning big ideas into polished prose. As a former Technical Writer for a cloud-based publishing software company and a Ghostwriter of over 60 books, David’s expertise spans technical precision and creative storytelling. At Adazing, he brings a knack for clarity and a love of the written word to every project—while still searching for the keyboard shortcut that refills his coffee.

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