Culture · 6 pages · 12 min
Why a dash and a hyphen are not the same mark
A hyphen joins or breaks a word. A dash breaks a sentence or spans a range.
When the purchase is complete, return to the original window. It will refresh.
From the opening
A dash and a hyphen are not the same mark because they do different jobs and, in ordinary type, they have different lengths. The hyphen is the short mark that joins parts of a compound or splits a word at the end of a line; a dash is a longer mark that works at the level of the sentence or the span between two items. The opening covers hyphen joins or splits a word, em dash breaks the sentence, and en dash marks a span.
The rest of the brief — the later sections and the reading notes — opens after Stripe confirms payment.
Inside
- Hyphen joins or splits a word
- Em dash breaks the sentence
- En dash marks a span
- The typewriter collapsed the keys
- Where the idea stops applying
- A distinction worth keeping
Sources
- Hyphen, en dash, and em dash as distinct type sorts
- Typewriter practice of substituting hyphens for dashes