There are two kinds of writers: those who like em dashes and impostors. And yet, for some reason, there's no em dash symbol on a keyboard. We live in a world where the underscore is represented, but the em dash is not. It's upsetting, to be honest....
The rules of when and where to use which kind of dash may seem complex and hard to understand, but they don't have to. Here's your guide to how to use em dashes, en dashes, and hyphens correctly.
the visual break anem dashprovides can give the sentence more emphasis. i shop at that cute little boutique—the one on the corner of magnolia street—whenever i need a gift for a friend. 3. to set off parenthetical information if parentheses aren’t your friends,em dashescan also be used...
I'm editing a book using Google Docs on the iPad Pro (12.9") with the Smart Keyboard. On my MacBook Pro, I can just type option-hyphen for a en-dash, and shift-option-hyphen for an em-dash, but it doesn't seem to work on the Smart Keyboard. How do I type these characters on...
The em dashkeyboard shortcutis one of the easier methods to access the punctuation. Though it might take a little bit of getting used to, once you master it ,you’ll be an em dash typing master. Turn on Number Lock by pressing theNumLock keyon the upper number row of your keyboard....
On Macs, the long dash symbol situation is much easier.To type an en dash, press Option + hyphen (-) To type an em dash on keyboard, press Shift + Option + hyphen (-)The only problem is that to use these en and em dash shortcuts effectively, you need to remember them. And when...
The alt code for the em-dash is: alt+0151 Note: You have to use the keypad. Not the numbers running across the top of your keyboard. Also, if it’s still not showing up, toggle your Num Lock key. Many word processors will automatically format for each type of dash, depending on h...
Em Dash Keyboard Shortcuts: How Do You Make an Em Dash? Warning:To correctly make an em dash on Word and other word processors,DO NOTuse two consecutive hyphens or a double dash. Two adjacent hyphens (that's two of these, no spaces between them: – -) combine to form anen dash, li...
Keyboard shortcuts are especially useful for proofreaders and editors since they allow you to add shortcuts for commonly used actions or special characters (including the em dash). For example, pressing Control (Command on a Mac) with F will open the Find function (whether you’re in Word ...
Em dash: The em dash (—) is slightly longer than the en dash and is used to signify a break, add additional information, introduce a concept, express dialogue, and replace other punctuation. Double hyphen: The double hyphen (–) features two individual hyphens side by side and has the ...