The
first point that a writer needs to understand is that a hyphen and dash are not
the same. These marks complete very different jobs. The hyphen is meant to connect words or parts of words. For instance, it connects a word that is made up of more than one
word such as brother-in-law. It can also be useful for signaling that a word has been separated between two lines on a page, but digital communication has made that relatively unnecessary
today. Hyphens do many more jobs such as creating compound adjectives,
connecting written out numbers, clarifying written out ages, connecting ranges,
and adding prefixes and suffixes. The best description I came across is from
the always helpful Grammar Book which describes hyphens as the glue of
grammar[1]. The hyphen's goal is to
clarify. At times, something makes much more sense when spoken than when
written. Hyphens indicate in writing what would normally be implied by how it’s
spoken.
Dashes
serve another purpose in writing. There are both em dashes and en dashes. If you really want to complicate matters, you can also break down em dashes further into two em dashes and three em dashes. We are going to keep things simple though. The
en dash is easily confused with a hyphen. It is slightly longer than a hyphen
and its purpose is sometimes similar. The en dash mainly brings distant
relatives together. By this, I mean the en dashes connect ranges such as page
numbers (1–2), dates (November–December), and actual ranges
(Sacramento–Honolulu flight)[2]. En dashes also complete
the special task of prefixing proper nouns. A hyphen would normally do when
prefixing a word, but proper nouns are a special case[3].
The em dash is much more assertive and very versatile. It takes the place of commas, semicolons, colons, and parentheses in a sentence to create different emphases and pauses. It is a longer line than either the en dash or hyphen. When creating emphasis, the em dash sets the emphasized part off from the rest of the sentence. It can also create pauses that can be a little longer than other punctuation. A final function the em dash has is indicating broken speech such as if one speaker interrupts another[4].
Now that you know the differences
amongst all these punctuation marks, you are most likely wondering how they are
going to help you in your writing. Hyphens and dashes can help replace some of
the more common punctuation marks and give your content a clearer voice. The
trick is to not overdo it. Some writers get a little ambitious and hyphenate
everything like this supposed-one-word-but-not word. That can be overwhelming
to your reader. It can also be confusing to see an overabundance of dashes, as
anyone who has read Emily Dickinson’s poetry knows all too well. On the other
hand, an absence of hyphens and dashes can create confusion because the reader
may not be able to understand what the author is meaning. In short, moderation
is key. If it will add value, use it. Otherwise, it might be better to skip it.
The hyphen, en dash, and em dash all serve unique purposes that help writers create clear and accurate content. They can demonstrate parts of speech that are not so easy to represent on paper with words alone. As a rule of thumb, remember that hyphens act like glue, en dashes want to bring everyone closer together, and em dashes want to stand out. Of course, if you ever are in doubt, look it up! It's always better to spend time researching than correcting errors.
[1] “Hyphens,”
Grammar Book, Retrieved October 28, 2019, https://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/hyphens.asp.
[2]
“Hyphens, En Dashes, and Em Dashes,” Chicago Manual of Style Online,
Retrieved October 28, 2019, https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/qanda/data/faq/topics/HyphensEnDashesEmDashes/faq0002.html
[3]
Ibid.
[4]
Ibid.
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