The devil is in the details

Dash and Hyphen

Symbol	Unicode name	Unicode number	HTML code	CSS code	Entity	$\LaTeX$
‐	Hyphen	U+2010	‐	\2010	‐	$\text{-}$
‑	Non-Breaking Hyphen	U+2011	‑	\2011		$\char"2011$
‒	Figure Dash	U+2012	‒	\2012		$\char"2012$
–	En Dash	U+2013	–	\2013	–	$\text{--}
—	Em Dash	U+2014	—	\2014	—	$\text{---}$
―	Horizontal Bar	U+2015	―	\2015	―	$\char"2212$
−	Minus Sign	U+2212	‐	\2212	−	-
-	Hyphen-Minus	U+002D	-	\002D		$\char"002D$
⸺	Two-Em Dash	U+2E3A	⸺	\2E3A		$\char"2E3A$
­(unvisible)	Soft Hyphen	U+00AD	­	\00AD	­	$\char"00AD$

note

All of the symbols can be displayed properly using this method: $\char"2212$ in $\LaTeX$.

warning

The hyphen is sometimes confused with the minus sign −, which is wider and usually drawn a little higher to match the crossbar in the plus sign +, i.e., 4 + 3 − 2 = 5 v.s. 4 + 3 ‐ 2 = 5.

In $\LaTeX$, hyphen can be used as minus, i.e., $a - b$ $(a - b)$, that is hyphen-minus (but what we typed was hyphen). If we type this expression, $well \text{-} known$, it should be displayed like this: $well \text{-} known$, and it is a hyphen.

Hyphen ‐

• Hyphens in compound words. The use of the hyphen in compound words and names and in word division is discussed in 5.92
• Hyphens as separators. A hyphen is used to separate numbers that are not inclusive, such as telephone numbers, social security numbers, and ISBNs. It is also used to separate letters when a word is spelled out letter by letter, as in dialogue or in reference to American Sign Language.
  • 1-800-621-2376
  • 978-0-226-15906-5 (ISBN)
  • "My name is Phyllis; that's p-h-y-l-l-i-s."
  • A proficient signer can fingerspell $\textbf{C-O-L-O-R-A-D-O}$ in lesss than two seconds.

5.92

A phrasal adjective (also called a compound modifier) is a phrase that functions as a unit to modify a noun. A phrasal adjective follows these basic rules:

• Generally, if placed before a noun, the phrase should be hyphenated to avoid misdirecting the reader {dog-eat-dog competition}. There may be a considerable difference between the hyphenated and the unhyphenated forms: compare small animal hospital with small-animal hospital.
• If a compound noun is an element of a phrasal adjective, the entire compound noun must be hyphenated to clarify the relationship among the words {time-clock-punching employees}.
• If more than one phrasal adjective modifies a single noun, hyphenation becomes especially important {nineteenth-century song-and-dance numbers} {state-inspected assisted-living facility}.
• If two phrasal adjectives end in a common element, the ending element should appear only with the second phrase, and a suspended hyphen should follow the unattached words to show that they are related to the ending element {middle- and upper-class operagoers}.
• If the phrasal adjective denotes an amount or a duration, the plural should be dropped. For instance, pregnancy lasts nine months but is a nine-month pregnancy, and a shop open 24 hours a day has a 24-hour-a-day schedule. The plural is retained only for fractions {a two-thirds majority}.
• If a phrasal adjective becomes awkward, the sentence should probably be recast. For example, The news about the lower-than-expected third-quarter earnings disappointed investors could become The news about the third-quarter earnings, which were lower than expected, disappointed investors. Or perhaps this: Investors were disappointed by the third-quarter earnings, which were lower than expected. See also 7.81-89.

Non-beaking hyphen ‑

The non-breaking hyphen, nonbreaking hyphen looks identical to the regular hyphen, but word processors treat it as a letter so that the hyphenated word will not be divided at the hyphen should this fall at what would be the end of a line of text; instead, either the whole hyphenated word will remain in full at the end of the line or it will go in full to the beginning of the next line.¹

Figure dash ‒

The figure dash has the same width as a numerical digit. It is used within numbers such as the phone number 555‒0199, especially in columns so as to maintain alignment.²

En Dash –

• ranges of values
  • 1:15–2:15 p.m.
• used to contrast values or illustrate a relationship between two things
  • Australia beat American Samoa 31–0.
• usually used instead of a hyphen in compound (phrasal) attributives in which one or both elements is itself a compound, especially when the compound element is an open compound, meaning it is not itself hyphenated
  • The hospital–nursing home connection (the connection between the hospital and the nursing home, not a home connection between the hospital and nursing)
  • A nursing home–home care policy (a policy about the nursing home and home care)
  • A Nursing home – Home Care policy
  • Pre–Civil War era
  • Pulitzer Prize–winning novel
  • New York–style pizza
  • The non–San Francisco part of the world
  • The post–World War II era

Em Dash —

• may be used in pairs to offset parenthetical text

Horizontal Bar ―

• long dash introducing quoted text

Minus Sign − ⭤ +

Hyphen-Minus -

The Hyphen-Minus symbol is not a punctuation character. It is typically used both as a hyphen to connect words and as a minus sign in mathematical expressions or numerical ranges.³

• e.g. (mathematical expression) 1 - 1 = 0
• e.g. (numerical range) 2021 - 2024

Two-Em Dash ⸺

Soft Hyphen

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Footnotes

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyphen ↩

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dash#Figure_dash ↩

3. https://symbl.cc/en/002D/ ↩