En and Em Dashes
Typesetters gave the punctuation marks en dash and em dash their names and lengths. They used the
length of the base of the “N” to give the en dash (–) its name and its length, and they used the length of
the base of the “M” to give the em dash (—) its name and its length.
Use these two punctuation marks as follows:
En Dash: Use the en dash, not the hyphen (-), to punctuate number spans: 25–35, pp. 10–12, and 1997–
2005. The en dash reads as “to” or “through.” In the United Kingdom – and increasingly it seems in the
United States – the en dash punctuates – as it just did and as it does again now – interrupters; commas
and parentheses also punctuate interrupters. Thus, I could write as follows using commas instead of en
dashes in part of the sentence: In the United Kingdom, and increasingly it seems in the United States,
the en dash punctuates – as it does now – interrupters; commas and parentheses also punctuate
interrupters.
Em Dash: Generally, in the United States—where I am from—the em dash instead of the en dash
punctuates interrupters. Note the following differences:
1. The em dash (—) is longer than the en dash (–).
2. Leave no space either side of the em dash—when it punctuates interrupters. However, in the
case of the en dash – leave a space each side when it punctuates interrupters. Finally, leave no
spaces around the en dash when it punctuates number spans (44–65, pp. 10–12).
3. The em dash never punctuates number spans.
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