When to use a dash A dash (specifically, an em dash) has a totally different purpose. It indicates a significant pause or surprising twist in a sentence.

It gets confusing because you use a hyphen when the descriptive phrase comes before the thing, but you don't when the phrase comes after: The chocolate-frosted cake was decadent.

The hyphens and dashes used in English writing are often used inconsistently, regardless of whether the writer is a professional or not. Mister Punctual, a blog that posts articles about ...

A debate surrounds the em dash, dubbed the 'ChatGPT hyphen'. Gen Z and social media users link it to AI content. However, ...

Hyphens (-) Hyphens are only used to combine certain words together. They are not strong enough to set off phrases or words from a sentence. Use hyphens in the following situations: Use in compound ...

Grammar columnist and expert June Casagrande dives into why we use the em dash and the AI myths associated with it.

Hyphens are shorter than dashes and are used to connect words. Dashes are used as punctuation in sentences. Find out more in a Bitesize KS2 English guide.

I don’t talk much here about the en dash — the little punctuation mark that looks like it can’t decide if it’s a hyphen or a full-fledged dash.

In the course of exchanging mail, the reader also wanted to know when to use a dash (hyphen) in a sentence. On this, language experts advice that where any other punctuation mark would suffice, a ...