Hyphen vs. Dash: When and How to Use Them.

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 As a writer you in the middle of writing a brilliant sentence and you find yourself confronted with the ultimate linear dilemma: To use a hyphen, an en dash, or an em dash, which would you choose? 



The differences might appear subtle, but their usages are distinct:

A- The hyphen (-), the shortest, is used to join multiple words that function together as a single concept, as in, a compound word. For instance,

 farmer + born = farmer-born.

Mother + in + law = mother-in-law.


B- The en dash (–), a hyphen with a growth spurt, is used to represent the words to or through when specifying a range of value such as such as a span of time, dates or numbers. 

Examples:

5 to 6a.m = 56 a.m.

June to Jul y= JuneJuly, 2000

170 to 90BCE = 17090 BCE

Read through chapters 3 to 5 = Chapters 35

The Seahawks won 438

En dashes are also used to represent a conflict, connection, or direction between two words or compounds. Examples include conflicting sides of an argument (Hindu–muslim debate), connecting a prefix or suffix to an unhyphenated compound (post–Civil War, New York–based), and directional references (Abuja–lagos bus, East–West highway). 

C- The em dash (—), the longest and most versatile, is used to act as a more emphatic comma, semicolon, or colon. the em dash is quite versatile and the only one that's a true mark of punctuation. It can act as a more pronounced replacement for commas, semicolons, or colons. It can also set off pauses or interruptions within a textlike parentheses, except with a more emphatic effect that still maintains the natural flow of discourse.

Examples:

My mother loves chocolate—my father loves vanilla.

The baker needs three things—eggs, cream, and chocolate—to make mousse.

I hate it when I get police dog—soh, look at the cute puppy.

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