What is the longest dash?

The em-dash. The em-dash (“—”) is the longest dash in common use. It comes most commonly in pairs and has a function similar to parentheses (i.e. to break the flow of thoughts).

Is there a longer dash than the em dash? The en dash is approximately the length of the letter n, and the em dash the length of the letter m. The shorter en dash (–) is used to mark ranges and with the meaning “to” in phrases like “Dover–Calais crossing.” The longer em dash (—) is used to separate extra information or mark a break in a sentence.

Likewise Why is it called em dash?

Why is it called em dash? The name comes from typography—the work of setting, arranging, and printing types. An em dash is a dash that is the width of an M.

What is the length of a hyphen? A hyphen is the shortest in length of the three. It is used to divide words that break at the end of a line, or to connect parts of compound words such as go-between, ill-fated and run-of-the-mill.

What is a hyphen vs dash?

They might all look like lines on a page, but hyphens and dashes serve different purposes. To begin, a hyphen (-) is shorter than a dash (–). Hyphens join words together and dashes indicate range.

What is the difference between an em dash and a hyphen? A hyphen (-) is a punctuation mark that’s used to join words or parts of words. … A dash is longer than a hyphen and is commonly used to indicate a range or a pause. The most common types of dashes are the en dash (–) and the em dash (—).

How do you use a colon in a sentence?

Colons are punctuation marks used to signal when what comes next is directly related to the previous sentence. They are used after complete sentences. It is especially important to remember that a colon is not used after a sentence fragment.

What is a lowercase dash called? An en dash is a typographic dash that is as wide as a lowercase “n” character. These dashes are typically used to denote ranges of numbers, as in 3–7. You create an en dash by pressing Ctrl and the minus sign on the numeric keypad.

Why is it called em?

An em is a unit in the field of typography, equal to the currently specified point size. … The name em was originally a reference to the width of the capital M in the typeface and size being used, which was often the same as the point size.

How do you use a long dash in a sentence? The em dash can be used in place of a colon when you want to emphasize the conclusion of your sentence. The dash is less formal than the colon. After months of deliberation, the jurors reached a unanimous verdict⁠—guilty. The white sand, the warm water, the sparkling sun⁠—this is what brought them to Fiji.

How do I make a long dash in word?

Inserting an Em Dash using Autocorrect

1. Open Word.
2. Place your cursor where you would like to insert the em dash.
3. Type two — hyphens in a row.
4. Press Spacebar.
5. This will automatically change your two hyphens into an em dash.

What do you call the long dash in a sentence? The hyphen (-), the shortest of the three marks, is familiar (sometimes wretchedly so) to most writers. So is the em dash (—), more often called the long dash, or sometimes just the dash.

What is a Hifin on the keyboard?

Alternatively known as a dash, subtract, negative, or minus sign, the hyphen ( – ) is a punctuation mark on the underscore key next to the “0” key on US keyboards. Pictured is an example of the hyphen and underscore key on top of the keyboard.

What are hyphens and underscores? is that hyphen is symbol “”, typically used to join two or more words to form a compound term, or to indicate that a word has been split at the end of a line while underscore is an underline; a line drawn or printed beneath text; the character.

What is dash in punctuation?

Grammarly. A dash is a little horizontal line that floats in the middle of a line of text (not at the bottom: that’s an underscore). It’s longer than a hyphen and is commonly used to indicate a range or a pause. Dashes are used to separate groups of words, not to separate parts of words like a hyphen does.

Which dash is about half the length of an em dash? Despite its name, the en dash has more in common with the hyphen than with the em dash. In fact, it helps to think of the en dash, which is half the length of the em, as a variant of the hyphen.

How do I insert an em dash in Word?

3. 1. Inserting an em-dash in Word

1. For Mac: press “option+shift+hyphen key”. …
2. For desktop PC: press “alt+ctrl+minus” on the numeric keypad (the number section on the far right of your keyboard).

What is colon example? A colon can be used to introduce a list. … For example, “Here’s a list of groceries I need: a loaf of bread, a quart of milk, and a stick of butter.” The words preceding the colon stand as a complete, grammatically correct sentence.

How do you write a list after a colon?

When listing items one by one, one per line, following a colon, capitalization and ending punctuation are optional when using single words or phrases preceded by letters, numbers, or bullet points. If each point is a complete sentence, capitalize the first word and end the sentence with appropriate ending punctuation.

What is an example of a dash? Dashes replace otherwise mandatory punctuation, such as the commas after Iowa and 2020 in the following examples: Without dash: The man from Ames, Iowa, arrived. With dash: The man—he was from Ames, Iowa—arrived. Without dash: The May 1, 2020, edition of the Ames Sentinel arrived in June.

Is there a space between dashes?

In the MLA Handbook, we show no space before and after dashes because that’s the standard format used by publishers in the United States. A student who follows that model will be sure of producing professional-looking work, at least as far as the dashes are concerned.

How many dashes are there? There are three forms of dashes: em, en, and the double hyphen. The most common types of dashes are the en dash (–) and the em dash (—). A good way to remember the difference between these two dashes is to visualize the en dash as the length of the letter N and the em dash as the length of the letter M.