A deep and abiding appreciation (dare I say, perhaps even love?) for grammar is a trait that not a huge number of people possess. But when you’re in the business of all things wordy, grammar has its own kind of glamour.

It should be noted that English is a constantly evolving language – and we’re definitely fans of linguistic evolution. We grew up in an era of gr8 and omg, and we work in communications, meaning constant absorption of newly coined portmanteaus, techspeak and all kinds of industry jargon depending on the client in question. Language is not stagnant, nor should it be.
But we’re perfectionists and rampant proofreaders too. So while the rules of the game may evolve with time, we are still dedicated to a by-the-book approach to writing and editing. Our Wordsmith & Content Marketing Queen (and resident trained editor and book guru) Briar L has rounded up a few of the particular things that she reckons we should be more aware of – some that you may just need a gentle reminder of, and others that may be completely new information.

So dive on in and have a splash in the welcoming waters of the inaugural collection of Intelligent Ink Grammar Tips – today’s focus is on the (more interesting than you’d think) world of hyphens and dashes. The trickiest little lines in the business.

Dashes

A little line can cause a whole lot of trouble. While to the outside viewer – and – and — may all look like slight variations on a theme, there’s actually a surprising amount of difference between each. Welcome to the world of the hyphen, en-dash and em-dash.

Most people operate under the assumption that a hyphen (i.e.‘ – ’) and an en-dash (i.e. ‘ – ’)  are the same thing and do the same thing. And on the rare occasion that they see an em-dash in use (i.e. ‘ — ’), there’s probably a feeling that someone decided to do something fancy with the fonts. But if you really want to impress with your written material, differentiating between the three is an easy way to look super slick. So here’s Hyphen vs. Dash 101!

A hyphen is used to connect words. That’s it. That may mean connecting two names for a double barrelled surname, or creating a compound modifier (like well-prepared students, or twenty-page essays), or splitting a multi-syllable word across two lines when style requires it.

On the other hand, if you’re looking to divide up a sentence without using commas – like this – you’re going to want to throw your hyphens out the window. You’re probably actually already familiar with the en-dash – many word processors will haphazardly autocorrect spaced hyphens to spaced en-dashes. The en-dash is also referred as n-dash – and it gets its name from the fact that in whatever font you’re using, the dash will be the width as the letter ‘n’.

Em-dashes fall into the same space – but as a general rule, rather than being spaced (as an en-dash will be), they are squished in between the words—like so. Using en-dashes vs. em-dashes is a stylistic decision – when in doubt, en-dashes are your best bet. Just don’t mix the two – this paragraph is the exception rather than the rule.

So that’s today’s dipping in to grammar world – stay tuned for further installments in the world of semi-colons, subjunctives and the curious case of the I before E mnemonic. How wild are we?