The En Dash vs. the Em Dash
A brief primer on the difference between the two
I know they can seem confusing, but there isn’t much to learn. Once you get the four basics down — two for en dashes, two for em dashes — you’ll be all set.
EN DASHES
If you were to list the span of dates for the First World War, you’d write it as 1914–18 when you’re not writing 1914 to 1918, which is fine (note that you would spell out the full years if the dates span two centuries: 1998–2003). That dash may look like a hyphen,¹ but it is not. It’s an en dash, which is slightly longer than a hyphen. Similarly, the en dash is used when things get paired or linked together: Democratic–Republican debate, Boston–New York train.
Now, notice the difference between these two: London-born artist and New York–born artist. That’s a hyphen for the London example but an en dash for New York. The trick is easy to remember: When you have multiple words, use an en dash: New York City–born artist.
EM DASHES
I put the em dash to use in two ways — and only in two ways. That sentence you just read is the first example. It indicates a “sudden” or added-on thought at the end of a sentence.
Em dashes are also great — Hey, look at the birds! — for indicating an interruption of thought. Now, sometimes you might find this one tricky, as there might be cases where you believe it would be better to use parentheses. You could be right (though you might be “wrong” depending on the tone you want to achieve), but if the middle-of-the-sentence remark is meant to startle or surprise rather than to indicate an afterthought or a sotto voce–like aside, then it’s em dashes that you want.²
Sometimes you’ll see British writers use en dashes as em dashes but with spaces. From Evelyn Waugh’s The Loved One: “And she was really quite good in her way, you know – with a truly horrifying natural scowl.” A diary entry from Alan Bennett’s Untold Stories: “Come out this morning (still grey, still cold) to find smack in front of my door a fish – a wet fish actually, about nine inches long, still glistening as if just caught.” I don’t care for the look, and despite the many aesthetic differences between American and British editors,³ you will never go wrong using em dashes with no spaces. But imagine seeing an em dash with spaces. Yes, I’ve seen that, but I will spare you the unpleasantness of showing you an example.
And with that, I believe I am done. I did say in the subtitle to this essay that I would be brief — and so I have.
¹. I don’t feel a need to add hyphens to this brief missive — surely, most of you must know how to use hyphens — but because I’m already here in this footnote, I feel obliged to say something. No. I won’t say anything. I’ll just let this list speak for itself: fat-free yogurt, well-behaved dog, blue-collar job, happy-go-lucky guy, top-of-the-line quality, Trump’s batshit-crazy delusions.
². However, when introducing a list of things — “Here’s what we need to buy: vegetables, butter, and cheese” — use a colon, not an em dash.
³. If you’re an American and you write “Mr and Mrs Smith,” your decision to leave out the periods will not fly with any stateside copy editor.
Barry Lyons is a freelance writer living in New York City. Here’s a piece about the apostrophe s.
