As confused about the use of dashes - the hyphen, the em dash and the en dash - as we are?
We spoke about the Em Dash a few weeks ago. Here's a crash course in the use of En Dash.
The En Dash is longer than a hyphen but shorter than an Em Dash. It is less commonly used than the Hyphen or Em Dash.
The En Dash is used to indicate a range between two terms. It often replaces the word 'to'.
It can also be used for clarity in forming complex compound adjectives.
The En Dash derives its name from the fact that it is meant to be the same width as the letter N.
To type an en dash on Windows, type Ctrl+Minus (-).
En dash is important in scientific and mathematical writing because it is used between numbers to represent the word to.
It is also used when writing times, dates, and page numbers in the sense of up to and including or through.
Take for example,
I work 20–30 hours per week.
An En dash should be used for clarity when one of the elements in a compound adjective is an open compound (made up of two words with a space between them) or when both elements contain hyphenated terms. In terms of clarity, this is especially helpful when one of the terms is a capitalized proper noun.
For instance,
He is an award-winning novelist.
The En Dash can also be used between words to represent conflict, connection, or direction.
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