Blog: Travel Now & Write There
WRITING TIP: What is an em dash? And why would I use it?
August 2025 | Jess QuinnIf you've ever sat in my classroom, or worked alongside me in the past 15 years, or even visited a memorial in Washington, D.C. with you, you know I'm going to edit the use of dashes — with a strong expectation for a correct usage. I say only in the past 15 years, because before graduate school, I'd never really paid attention to the long dash in the middle of a sentence. Now, I can't unsee them — at work, at home, on buildings — everywhere. Yet, once you learn of the em dash, you simply can't unlearn it. Sorry, not sorry, that now you'll see them everywhere!
So what is the difference in the dashes?
I"m forever grateful to my professor for teaching this distinction to me. There are three main types of dashes in English: - The hyphen – The en dash — The em dash
The hyphen is a punctuation that is commonly used correctly and exactly as you'd think it should be to divide compound words. Then when you move to the en dash, there are some more specific rules. The easiest way to remember is that the en dash is commonly used between numbers, whether a range of years or of time.
For example: 2001–2025 or 8:30 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.
And then my favorite, the em dash. This dash is twice the length of a hyphen, and often as you type two hyphens and then hit the space bar on your keyboard, the dash auto becomes an en dash. And sometimes it won't — check your settings.
So why would I use an em dash? And how do I use it?
An em dash is multi-functional. Often the use is for a break in the sentence, or a break between clauses to add context to the sentence. You often see an em dash before an author's name, or a person being quoted. For example:
"My aim is to put down on paper what I see and what I feel in the best and simplest way." — Ernest Hemingway
You've also likely seen the dash with a space before and after it — if Associated Press or AP style writing. Or in a novel, that glorious dash is flush against the copy.
Whether giving an aside to the beginning of the sentence, creating a break in tough, or a pause in a sentence, pay attention to the use of this dash. An em dash is more than a hyphen, a little longer than it's cousin the en dash and it gives the brain the break it needs to take in the important information that follows — use it wisely.
There is a great article by Elizabeth Cook in BookRiot if you'd like to continue this dash-ing conversation.
Want to know the dictionary usage?
Check out this link for a more thorough explanation of using each of these dashes.
[Photos taken in October 2020 at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial in Washington, D.C.]
So what is the difference in the dashes?
I"m forever grateful to my professor for teaching this distinction to me. There are three main types of dashes in English: - The hyphen – The en dash — The em dash
The hyphen is a punctuation that is commonly used correctly and exactly as you'd think it should be to divide compound words. Then when you move to the en dash, there are some more specific rules. The easiest way to remember is that the en dash is commonly used between numbers, whether a range of years or of time.
For example: 2001–2025 or 8:30 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.
And then my favorite, the em dash. This dash is twice the length of a hyphen, and often as you type two hyphens and then hit the space bar on your keyboard, the dash auto becomes an en dash. And sometimes it won't — check your settings.
So why would I use an em dash? And how do I use it?
An em dash is multi-functional. Often the use is for a break in the sentence, or a break between clauses to add context to the sentence. You often see an em dash before an author's name, or a person being quoted. For example:
"My aim is to put down on paper what I see and what I feel in the best and simplest way." — Ernest Hemingway
You've also likely seen the dash with a space before and after it — if Associated Press or AP style writing. Or in a novel, that glorious dash is flush against the copy.
Whether giving an aside to the beginning of the sentence, creating a break in tough, or a pause in a sentence, pay attention to the use of this dash. An em dash is more than a hyphen, a little longer than it's cousin the en dash and it gives the brain the break it needs to take in the important information that follows — use it wisely.
There is a great article by Elizabeth Cook in BookRiot if you'd like to continue this dash-ing conversation.
Want to know the dictionary usage?
Check out this link for a more thorough explanation of using each of these dashes.
[Photos taken in October 2020 at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial in Washington, D.C.]
