To improve on my writting in the way of making it more enjoyable to the reader and other players, I want to learn how to use hyphens. So, here are the questions:

What's the grammatically correct way to use a hyphen?
When should I use them?
How often should I use hyphens in a segment of writting?
What seperates a hyphen from commas and semi-colons?

Hyphens, En-dashes and Em-dashes
by Ilene Strizver


Hyphens, en-dashes and em-dashes are frequently used punctuation marks that are just as frequently misunderstood. All three marks are essentially horizontal lines, though their lengths vary (as do, occasionally, their designs – see figure 1). However, these three different marks have very different purposes, and using a hyphen to do an m-dash’s job is just as much of a punctuation error as using a question mark in place of a comma.

A hyphen is the shortest in length of the three. It is used to divide words that break at the end of a line, or to connect parts of compound words such as go-between, ill-fated and run-of-the-mill. The hyphen is easily found on the keyboard to the right of the zero.

An em-dash is the longest of the three, and is used to indicate a break in thought — as illustrated in this sentence. It can also be used to separate a thought within a sentence — such as this one — which would then require an em-dash at the beginning and the end of the phrase.

The en-dash, which is shorter than an em-dash and longer than a hyphen, is used to indicate a range of values, such as a span of time or numerical quantities (similar to using the words “to” and “from”); for example, 9 AM – 5 PM, Monday – Friday or ages 5 – 8.

Sometimes, for purely aesthetic reasons, a designer will use the en-dash in place of em-dashes throughout a document, or will add a small amount of space before and after either dash. These stylistic preferences are perfectly acceptable – consider them a form of artistic license! – and can be used to improve the color and texture of your type when the size and spacing of the em-dash is not to your liking. Just remember to be consistent throughout to avoid a jumble of varying styles (see figure 3, top and middle paragraphs).

One last tip: never use two hyphens in place of an em- or en-dash. This typographically incorrect practice is a holdover from typewriter days, when there were no dashes on the keyboard at all, just hyphens. Now there’s no excuse for this very un-dashing and unprofessional habit






Nighthand's Note: Regarding the "One lat tip:," Most text-editing software with more functionality than notepad, such as MSWord and OpenOffice, will automatically replace -- with the longer dash. Sometimes it's correct, and sometimes it's not.

And that's why handwriting is so awesome, all of the dashes can be intermixed and no one would have a clue :P Just a random thought.

Is there any way in common word processors to access these various symbols without opening the insert symbol dialogue?

MSWord has a way to shortcut the different symbols. Just go to the symbol panel for MSWindows and modify the shortcut keys. I forget the exact process, but hunt around in there and you'll find it. When I used MSWord, I set up my keyboard to make it easier to type chemical symbols because I did my chemistry homework by typing it up.

I dunno, just set the hyphen to being the dash + alt and the dash + shift + alt = the other dash that the dash isn't. Was that coherent? No...

I actually know about that, but I was thinking something involving even less effort...

<_<

*goes back to being lazyand using hyphens everywhere*

Actually, reflecting on it, I know that space-dash-space does the en-dash, dash-dash does the em-dash, and the dash key does normal dash. Granted, there has to be a word right after it, but whatev's...