How Hyphens and Em Dashes Are Different. (And why you’ll look smart if you use them correctly.)

So, what’s an em dash? In short, it’s one of the coolest and most useful punctuation marks for sprucing up your writing. Em dashes make your writing more sophisticated—and professionally conversational. (See how I just did that, there? I inserted an em dash after “sophisticated” [looks like a hyphen but it’s way longer] in order to change the direction of my thought mid-sentence.)

Em dashes look like two or three hyphens stuck together (they’re actually called ’em’ dashes because they are typically the length of a capital M in the font they’re being typed in), but they function nothing like hyphens. In fact, em dashes have more in common with parentheses and colons than they do with hyphens. Unfortunately, you’ll see hyphens used improperly all the time to function as em dashes. But that isn’t correct. In fact, using hyphens as an em dash is messy and unsophisticated. Who wants that?

So, When Do I Use an Em Dash?

Use em dashes (in their proper length, of course, not as hyphens) to do two primary things: 1) change direction of a thought midsentence (as I did in the first sentence of this article); and 2) emphasize or clarify content in the middle of a sentence (like interrupting yourself to clarify something important). A couple examples:

1. Example 1: Change Direction of Thought Mid-sentence
   • That new maple bacon milkshake sounds so bizarre that I couldn’t possibly—oh, what the heck, give it to me!
     • Em dashes used in this way are typically informal and highly conversational. But they’re a sophisticated way to make your writing have rhythm and change of pace.
2. Example 2: Emphasize or Clarify Content in the Middle of a Sentence
   • I’m meeting up with Stacie’s roommate—you know, that quirky one we met when we were at Joe’s Crabshack last weekend—to talk about my new book proposal. Apparently she’s got connections.
     • Em dashes used in this way can be used informally or seriously, depending on your purpose and tone. As you can see, they function a lot like parenthetical asides (comments in parentheses, like I’m doing here), but they actually give emphasis to the content, rather than making it a side note like parentheses do.

How Do I Make an Em Dash?

Em dashes are created differently in different software programs. Most programs make it fairly simple, but sometimes you have to Google it to learn how the program you’re using makes them. But here are a few common places you’ll use em dashes:

• Microsoft Word
  1. Type the word immediately before the em dash (don’t press the space bar).
  2. Type two hyphens.
  3. Type the word after the em dash.
  4. Hit the space bar.
• WordPress
  1. Type the word immediately before the em dash (don’t press the space bar).
  2. Type three hyphens.
  3. Type the word after the em dash.
  4. Hit the space bar.
• Adobe InDesign
  1. Type the word immediately before the em dash (don’t press the space bar).
  2. Press CTRL + ALT + hyphen key
  3. Type the word after the em dash.
• Most other software programs (and even the ones named above)
  1. Hold the ALT key (Option on a Mac) while typing 0151

Is It Important for My Success as a Human Being to Know the Em Dash?

Well, if you’ve made it this far in life without knowing how and when to use an em dash professionally, I suppose you can always skate by without knowing. But why not be a little more sophisticated and cool? Why not make your writing more interesting and compelling and clear? Why not do it right instead of using that sloppy hyphen in its place? Knowing how to use the em dash will transform the way you write. It will make you brilliant. Go for brilliance, I say!