What are hyphens and dashes?

1. Grammar Toolkit Hyphens and dashes What are hyphens and dashes?

2. Grammar Toolkit Hyphens and dashes The main use of hyphens is to join two or more words into compound words. A dictionary will usually tell you whether or not to use a hyphen, and how to break a word at the end of a line of your writing. red-hot chilli three-stage process compound adjectives mother-in-law merry-go-round compound nouns three-quarters twenty-eight numbers and fractions When a prefix is added to a word, a hyphen is sometimes needed to avoid confusion. ex-actor co-author non-English Hyphens also separate letters when a word is spelled out letter by letter, such as a-e-i-o-u.

3. Grammar Toolkit Hyphens and dashes An en dashis the length of a printed n. Its main use is to connect numbers and sometimes words.In ranges of dates, times and page numbers, an en dash means “up to and including”. April–June pages 17–26 2003–09 In other uses, the en dash means “to”. The London–Paris train leaves at two o’clock. Australia has defeated New Zealand, 44–41. Find the keystroke in your computer’s word processor that makes an en dash.

4. Grammar Toolkit Hyphens and dashes Anem dash, or simply a dash, is the length of a printed m.It makes a sharp break in a sentence and can be used like: • parentheses, in pairs Give the bicycle to my dad—we call him MrFix It—to get it repaired. • a comma We discussed our plan—a plan that would give us victory! • a colon Lunchbox, jacket, hat, library bag—he forgot everything. Find the keystroke in your computer’s word processor that makes an emdash.

5. Grammar Toolkit Hyphens and dashes Insert a dash or hyphen in the spaces marked with arrows. - - One third of the attacks were by man eating sharks. Will he can he be here on time? She’s got everything we need crews, nuts, bolts and tools. You’ll find the answers on pages 7 11. That’s a glorious 150 year old tree in your garden. Flinders sailed around Australia from 1801 05. hyphens — — em dashes — em dash – en dash - hyphen – en dash

6. Grammar Toolkit Hyphens and dashes • Punctuation helps others to understand our writing. • Hyphens(-) are mainly to join two or more words to make compounds words (e.g. cross-eyed) and to avoid confusion when adding prefixes (e.g. re-employ). • An en dashor rule (–) is longer than a hyphen and connects numbers and words, mainly in ranges of dates, times and page numbers (e.g. pages 90–99). • An em dashor rule (—) is longer than an en dash and makes a sharp break in a sentence. They can be used as parentheses, commas and colons (e.g. That’s enough—I can take no more.). • Different word processing software uses different ways to insert en dashes and em dashes.

7. Grammar Toolkit Hyphens and dashes The End