Writing Center Handouts

Typing two hyphens, with neither a space between them nor a space on either side of them, forms a dash—just like that. The dash (or em-dash) should be used for a specific reason and not be overused in academic writing.

• Use a dash to take the place of the more formal colon, particularly when you want to emphasize a point:

         Students were asked to bring their own supplies—paper, pencils, and calculator.

• Use a pair of dashes in place of parentheses when you want to place more emphasis on the content:

          The participants—two from group A and two from group B—tested negatively.

• Use a dash at the beginning and end of a series separated by commas:

           The students—Jim, Marla, and Sara—were told they could leave.

• Use a dash to mean namely, in other words, or that is before an explanation:

           The man—the one with his hand in the air—looks desperate.

• Use a dash to indicate an abrupt break in thought:

          The professor was unwilling to change the due date—even for a candy bar!

• If the sentence resumes after the break, use a second dash:

          The professor was unwilling—even for a candy bar!—to change the due date.

          After the professor made her statement—“I’ll extend the due date, but just this one
          time.” —we applauded.

• Use a dash to interrupt the main idea in a sentence to insert another, related, idea:

         The student—the one dressed in black, sitting in the corner—let out a cry.

The en dash is used between equal weighted words in a compound adjective. It is made by typing the first adjective, followed by a space, a hyphen, another space, and the second adjective:

         …the Yankee – Red Sox rivalry. …the New York – Beijing flight. 

Most often the en dash is used to express a range:

         pages 10 – 23; 100 – 300 participants; January – May 2009.

It can also stand for the words and, to, or versus between two words of equal weight:

        …the Israeli – Palestinian Peace Conference.

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