Dashes & Hyphens

 

Is there really a difference between dashes and hyphens? Yes, there is. A dash (–) is a longer version of a hyphen (-), and it has different usage in sentences and grammar construction.

Hyphens are often used to link two or more words or sentences together. A hyphen is used in compound adjectives, which are two or more words that together form an adjective.

Take for instance, Life-long vs. Lifelong as an adjective.

Many times, one can spell certain words such as lifelong without a hyphen, and if an adjective comes after a noun, then no need to use a hyphen.

Example:         Education is a lifelong learning process.      Vs.

                        A life-long learning process is the foundation of continual education.

Dashes are less formal. Dashes can be used in same fashion as parenthesis, such as in outlining emphasis or comments in sentences. There are two types of dashes: En-dash and Em-dash. En- dash is shorter but slightly wider than a hyphen and has spacing before and after it. It is used for a span of numbers (1999 – 2000) or to represent connections (North – South). Em-dash is longer with no spacing and can be used liberally in place of commas, parenthesis and colons—just not in professional writing. Can you identify the type of dash in the next example?

Example:         Education is a lifelong learning process––the key to successful personal, professional growth and development.  

“Once you stop learning, you start dying”.  -Albert Einstein.

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