Dash & Hyphen

En dashes are standard for numerical ranges.

Compound adjectives (e.g., 'the car was fast-moving') are not hyphenated if they come after the noun.

Compound adjective before the noun.

The hyphen (-) is the shortest punctuation mark in this group.

The en dash is used to show a relationship or distance (e.g., New York–London flight).

In most style guides, em dashes have no spaces around them.

Compound adjectives modifying a noun take a hyphen.

Fixed technical terms often require a hyphen.

Ranges require an en dash, not a hyphen.

Em dashes can functionally replace colons, commas, and parentheses.

'All-around' is a compound adjective.

Hyphens link words into compound terms.

'World-class' acts as a compound adjective.

Em dashes indicate the interruption.

En dashes signify time ranges.

Compound adjectives describing quantity use a hyphen.

'Father-in-law' is a fixed compound noun.

A semicolon connects independent clauses (not an em dash, though em dashes can sometimes follow them).

Em dashes are used for interjections.