Weep for the poor en dash. Even in grammar books and style guides, it barely gets a mention. But its proper usage will set you heads above the rest.

What is the en dash?

–

This does not appear on your keyboard.

In Windows, you can supposedly enter it by typing ALT + 2013. That is, hold down your alt key, type the number 2013, then release the alt key. I could not get this to work. Instead, I had to go the insert symbol menu. On the web, it is named –

When is the en dash used?

 The en dash is used with numbers and some phrases in place of to:

The council voted 42–13 against the measure.

World War II, 1939–1945, is said to be the world’s most widespread war.

Take the Atlanta–Chicago flight.

However, don’t use it with from:

I work from 4 to midnight.

It is also used with only one number to indicate an open range, as in a biography of a still-living person.

John Roach, 1980–

Finally, it is used to form compounds with other compounds.

World War II–era planes are nothing like the jet fighters in use today.

I would give you an example of a phrase that uses both hyphens and en dashes, but I just can’t. It’s too ugly and I won’t do it. Suffice it to say, if you find yourself writing such a monstrosity, rewrite your sentence.

The en dash and styles

Fowler’s, which calls it the en rule, and Chicago essentially give the same rules, with Chicago also using the en dash in book-specific areas such as indexes. The AP omits it entirely. So, unless you’re writing in a very specific arena, these three rules should be enough.

This article was written by John Roach http://prowritingtips.com John is a writer and copy editor. You can follow him on twitter at @johnwroachiii. To see more posts click here

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