It can't be denied that Windows users are missing out when it comes to convenient ways to type an em dash. However with such an easy method that works on a system-wide level, there's probably no good reason to use them. Some of the options we'll explain below will work on macOS too. For details, contact us.If you're using a keyboard designed for Windows rather than a Mac, the exact button combination may differ, but if you find which keys function as what, the combination will still work. We design and build custom mobile websites. Information on copy writing, websites, and Internet marketing. Some blog platforms may automatically convert a double hyphen to an em dash.Īnd then your hyphens, en dashes and em dashes will all be in their proper places, and your readers won’t stumble over your words.Īrun Sinha is president of Access Communications, a marketing communications, technical writing and web development company in Stamford, Connecticut, USA. Not too many people will quibble, and there will be no loss of meaning.Īnd create a pseudo-em dash by one of two ways: leave spaces before and after a hyphen - like this, or type two consecutive hyphens-like this. Go ahead and use a hyphen instead of an en dash. Or press the Alt key while typing 0151 on the numeric keypad.īut what if you don't have a standard keyboard, or are writing a blog post, or don't want to mess with html? To produce an em dash in Word, press Ctrl-Alt-minus sign on the numeric keypad. Word automatically converts the hyphen to an en dash. If your laptop doesn't have separate numeric keys, do this: Type the word preceding the en dash, leave a space, type a hyphen, leave another space, type your next word and leave a space again. Or press the Alt key while typing 0150 on the numeric keypad. To type an en dash in Microsoft Word, press the Ctrl and minus sign keys on the numeric keypad (on a standard keyboard). The html codes for the en dash are – or – To type a hyphen in html or Microsoft Word, just press the hyphen key.
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How to Enter Hyphens, En Dashes and Em Dashes in HTML and Word Example: He would make a good spouse-but not for me. It's twice as long as the en dash, and is used most often in a sentence to set apart two independent but related ideas.
There are other uses for it too, but these are the most frequent ones. Its purpose is to show a range, as in: Boston beat Miami 98–83.Īn en dash also shows a connection between two places, like New York–Boston corridor. Sometimes it's used to avoid doubling vowels, as in pre-empt or co-operate.Īn en dash is slightly longer than a hyphen. It is used to join two words together that express a single idea. It's the key next to the zero on a regular keyboard.
How?Ī hyphen is the smallest dash available. Eventually, after reading it a couple of times, they may realize that the hyphen is standing in for an em dash.įortunately, this problem can be easily avoided, as it's fairly simple to ensure you're entering the right dash - hyphen, en or em - in your writing. Doing this makes the copy awkward and forces the reader to reread the sentence to figure out its meaning. In formal writing, however, you can't get away with using a hyphen instead of an en dash.Īnd you definitely can't use a hyphen instead of a em dash. When you use a hyphen where you should use an en dash, it's usually not a problem. Hyphens often creep into web copy in places where en dashes or em dashes belong.
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