The many uses of Hyphens and Dashes.

1. Hyphens & Dashes
How to use them and the difference between them.
Jona McLaughlin &
Hassan Khalifa

2. Layout
The difference between Hyphens and Dashes
When to use Hyphens
When to use Dashes
How to make a Dash

3. The Difference Between Hyphens and Dashes
Hyphens
 (-) The purpose of using Hyphens is
to connect two relevant words or
more, in order to show they are a
single entity.
Dashes
 (--) a Dash can be used to indicted
an interruption or emphasis in a
sentence, furthermore its used to
connect numbers and to extend
sentences.

4. When To Use Hyphens
Compound Adjectives
• free-range eggs
• an off-campus apartment
• state-of the-art design

5. When To Use Hyphens
Compound Nouns
• do-it-yourself
• sister-in-law
• Forget-me-nots

6. When To Use Hyphens
Prefix
• Re-enact
• Co-operate
• Anti-fascist

7. When To Use Dashes
Times & Dates
• The project will be delivered
January-June.
• I will visit 13 January-24 January.
• I will visit 0800-0900.

8. When To Use Dashes
Compound Adjectives with
Equal Parts
• The India-Pakistani issue
• The NATO-Warsaw Pact agreement

9. When To Use Dashes
Extend Sentences
• She demanded just one thing from her students — effort.
• She demanded effort from her students — that's all she
ever asked for.

10. How to make a Dash
Copy and paste an en dash (–) or an em dash (—) as required.
For Macs: ⌥ Opt+- (en dash) or ⌥ Opt+⇧ Shift+- (em dash), and ignore the rest of the page.
For Linux, if you have a Compose key: Compose--. (en dash) or Compose--- (em dash), and ignore the
rest of the page.
For Windows: Ctrl + number pad minus (en dash) or Ctrl + Alt + number pad minus (em dash) or two
hyphens (--), and ignore the rest of the page.
For iPhones and iPads: hold the - on screen keyboard until a pop up appears with choices including the
en dash and em dash. If using an external keyboard use the Mac advice above. Ignore the above page.