Unorganized text creates a mess in a person’s mind. It is a lot more difficult to read than text that is properly written and formatted. Aside from the aesthetics of words and writing, there is also the question of plain, old-fashioned readability (or lack of it). Is the text readable? Is it understandable? Because of this, punctuation is important.

Although it is only necessary during writing (as opposed to speaking), and so may not get as much attention as vocabulary or enunciation, punctuation marks matter. They matter a lot.

Hyphens and dashes are among the most confusing and incorrectly-used punctuation marks in the English language. Using them correctly helps the text leap off the page and take on a life of its own. It makes the page user-friendly, and gives the writer something to boast about. Punctuation has always been the mark of a good writer, and it is a skill worth having.

Hyphens and dashes are generally split into three:

1. First, there is the hyphen (-), which is used to join two or more words together.
2. Second, there is the dash (–), which is also known as an en dash. The en dash is used to introduce separate statements in a sentence.
3. Third, there is the em dash (—), which has the ability to replace colons, commas, and parentheses.

Hyphen

The hyphen is used to increase the readability of text, or to fuse two or more words (or parts of words) together. Examples:

• Stick-in-the-mud
• Up-and-coming
• On-the-spot

There are times when no hyphen is necessary, even with these phrases shown, unless they are preceding or following a noun.

A hyphen is also inserted into words having to do with family relations, or when there is a collision between letters. A hyphen is used to clarify that which could potentially be mistaken for another meaning. Hyphens can totally change the meaning of a sentence. Examples:

• I re-sent that email, as opposed to I resent that email
• I own a little used car, as opposed to I own a little-used car
• I want to re-establish that, as opposed to I want to reestablish that

Hyphens can make an appearance but then become obsolete, much like what happened with the word e-mail, which quickly became simple email.  Hyphens are also used when writing out numbers with a range of 21-91. Examples:

• When I’m sixty-four
• It’s my seventy-fifth wedding anniversary
• The forty-eight-year-old musician was in his element
• This last example also shows another use for hyphens, when worded numbers are part of a compound.

Dashes: the en dash

Dashes are used for making statements or comments, and for emphasis in the midst of a sentence. They are used to insert a thought or idea into a sentence, as an informal bracket. Examples:

• You thought we were having pizza – well, we’re not
• I might win an Oscar – you can never tell

Dashes: the em dash

The em dash is a tricky one. On the one hand, it can be used to replace many punctuation marks. On the other hand, it is one of the most widely incorrectly-used punctuation marks in written English. This occurs because the em dash changes its effect with each different use.

Using an em dash instead of a comma creates a more readable sentence, and also enhances the effect of the break, making it more meaningful. When replacing commas, you must use two em dashes. Example:

By the time we got to the ice cream parlor — five hours after we had started that awful fight — it was already closed.

Using an em dash instead of parentheses causes the reader to give the parenthetical content his or her full attention. If there is no need to call attention to the words within the dashes, consider using a regular parentheses phrase, and not dashes. Also, when using em dashes instead of parentheses, any surround punctuation should be removed. For example, compare the following two sentences:

1. When we were dancing (I vividly recall doing the funky chicken), I could feel your energy all around me.
2. When we were dancing—I vividly recall doing the funky chicken—I could feel your energy all around me.

When used at the end of a sentence, the em dash is used once.

• Aside from the aesthetics of words, there is also the question of plain, old-fashioned readability (or lack of it).
• Aside from the aesthetics of words, there is also the question of plain, old-fashioned readability—or lack of it.

Em dashes are also used to replace colons. This is done to emphasize the conclusion of a sentence. Example:

The judge had heard enough, and he sent Mr. Williams back to his least favorite cellblock—death row.

Em dashes are used to show missing words or letters. This applies regardless of previous knowledge of the words or letters. If it isn’t there, em dashes may be used to express the missing part. Examples:

The commander of the covert ops team, Lt. Z— —, was put on trial for his involvement in the military operation.

If an entire word is missing, two or three em dashes are normally used to convey the message of missing text. Any punctuation is kept as is.

There is a debate as to whether spaces should be used before and after em dashes. Ultimately, it comes down to rules of style versus readability. Most newspapers, for example, set a single space before and after. This is done because it makes the text a lot more reader-friendly. According to the AP stylebook, however, there are no spaces before or after em dashes.

Depending on who and what you are writing for, em dashes could either have a space or not. Having text packed together very tightly can cause the page to appear too busy, so write it out both ways and see which one suits your purpose.

As I said, hyphens and dashes are among the most widely misused punctuation marks in written English. There are those who believe them to be the same thing, but nothing could be further from the truth.

In this post, I have demonstrated the various uses of hyphens and dashes. Punctuation marks are there for you to use. Be a better writer, and use them!

A free grammar and punctuation checker software such as RightWriter can help get you off to a good start!