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What is a Dash?

In typography, dash refers to a family of horizontal line characters that perform distinct semantic roles. The word "dash" is often used loosely, but each member of the dash family has a specific purpose: the hyphen joins words, the en dash marks ranges, the em dash marks interruptions or parenthetical asides, and the minus sign is a mathematical operator. Confusing them is one of the most common typographic errors in digital publishing.

The Dash Family

The Hyphen-Minus Problem

The hyphen-minus (U+002D, the - on your keyboard) is a compromise character that computers inherited from typewriter culture. It serves as hyphen, minus sign, and even dash in informal writing — but typographically it should only be used as a hyphen for word breaks or in code/programming contexts.

Smart text editors and word processors auto-convert -- to an en dash and --- to an em dash. HTML entities provide the correct characters:

&ndash;  <!-- en dash – -->
&mdash;  <!-- em dash — -->
&minus;  <!-- minus sign − -->

En Dash Usage (–)

The en dash (U+2013) is used for: - Ranges: pages 10–25, the 2020–2024 period, Monday–Friday - Scores: the final score was 3–2 - Compound modifiers with proper nouns: the New York–London flight

Keyboard entry: - macOS: Option + Hyphen - Windows: Alt + 0150 (numpad) - HTML: – or –

Em Dash Usage (—)

The em dash (U+2014) is the most versatile dash, used for: - Parenthetical aside: She finally arrived—three hours late—with no explanation. - Interruption: "I can't believe you would—" she stopped herself. - Emphasis: Only one thing mattered now—survival.

Em dashes may appear with or without spaces depending on house style (American style: no spaces; British style: spaced).

Keyboard entry: - macOS: Shift + Option + Hyphen - Windows: Alt + 0151 (numpad) - HTML: — or —

Quick Facts