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A compound modifier (also called a phrasal adjective) is made up of two or more words that must be understood as a unit.

Prefixes such as all, ex, and self should be joined to words using a hyphen. The em dash is one of the English language‘s punctuation powerhouses. • Hyphen is smaller than a dash. In fact, they’re not the same at all; one is mainly used to link words together, while the other mainly separates words.

The answer is FALSE. or: dance moves like Elvis Presley’s, pre–World War II buildings Hyphens join words together and dashes indicate range. Hyphen vs. Dashes: When to Use and How to Type. As far as usage is concerned, while the wider m dash denotes a pause or an afterthought, the smaller en-dash is neutral and is used to denote a range, such as in money or in quantity. As to the argument over whether or not an “m” is twice as wide as an “n,” it depends on the type font, I suppose. It’s what you use to create a compound word, like “can-do” or “self-control,” or name, like Lin-Manuel Miranda.

The em dash is used to separate a thought in a sentence. This three-way clash among punctuation powerhouses pits the hyphen against two types of dashes. Examples include conflicting sides of an argument (Democrat–Republican debate), connecting a prefix or suffix to an unhyphenated compound (post–Civil War, New York–based), and directional references (Los Angeles–San Diego bus, East–West highway). First AI web content optimization platform just for writers, Although it’s the shortest of these three punctuation marks, the, When Genevieve dropped a can of tomato sauce on her toe, she shouted, “S——t.”. She graduated from Marist College with a Bachelor of Arts in English and has been writing for Reader's Digest since 2017. We recommend our users to update the browser.

Manisha Kumar. Technically, the dash is also referred to as the en-dash, while the hyphen is referred to as the em-dash. Grammarly also notes that you can use a hyphen to turn a pair of words into a modifier, like “a dog-friendly restaurant” or “a remorse-filled apology.” A hyphen is also the symbol you use to write out longer numbers: “twenty-three.”, A dash (specifically, an em dash) has a totally different purpose. The thing to remember when using it as a punctuation mark between words in a sentence is to use spacing on the either side when using an en-dash. Most of the time, compound modifiers are made up of an adjective and a noun or participle. Hyphens Generally, hyphens are used to join two words or parts of words together while avoiding confusion or This is especially helpful when setting apart clarifying information (known as appositives). Filed Under: Language Tagged With: Dash, em dash, en dash, Hyphen, mdash, ndash. The two are sometimes confused because they look so similar, but their usage is different. I used to write headlines for newspapers in the Middle Ages, where you had to roughly guess the size occupied by letters in the words of the headline. Hyphens go against not just one but two kinds of dashes.