# Grammarly Authors - What’s the Difference Between Dashes and Hyphens? (Highlights)
## Metadata
**Review**:: [readwise.io](https://readwise.io/bookreview/19160136)
**Source**:: #from/readwise
**Zettel**:: #zettel/fleeting
**Status**:: #x
**Authors**:: [[Grammarly Authors]]
**Full Title**:: What’s the Difference Between Dashes and Hyphens?
**Category**:: #articles #readwise/articles
**Category Icon**:: 📰
**URL**:: [www.grammarly.com](https://www.grammarly.com/blog/hyphens-and-dashes/)
**Host**:: [[www.grammarly.com]]
**Highlighted**:: [[2022-09-26]]
**Created**:: [[2022-09-27]]
## Highlights
### When to use hyphens
- Some compound words, such as self-restraint are hyphenated. Numbers between twenty-one and ninety-nine should also be hyphenated when they’re spelled out. ^388615786
- You should also use a hyphen with a compound modifier before a noun. A compound modifier (also called a phrasal adjective) is made up of two or more words that must be understood as a unit. ^388615787
“a dog-friendly hotel”
### When to use en dashes
- En dashes, which are about the width of an upper-case N. ^388615789
- But, traditionally, en dashes function as a kind of super hyphen. They’re meant to give you a little extra glue when you have a compound modifier that includes a multi-word element that can’t easily be hyphenated. ^388615790
“Elvis Presley–style”
[[Angela Gibson - Hyphens and en Dashes the MLA Way (Highlights)#^388615797|MLA only uses en dashes when a single compound adjective is a proper noun]], e.g., “pre–Industrial Revolution city”.
### When to use em dashes
- The em dash (about as wide as an uppercase M) ^388615792
- An em dash is most often used to indicate a pause in a sentence. It’s stronger than a comma, but weaker than a period or semicolon. ^388615793
- You can use a pair of em dashes to draw special attention to parenthetical information ^388615794
Like `()` but stronger.
Example: The new nurse—who was wearing the same purple scrubs as the old nurse—entered the room with a tray of Jello.
- You can use a single em dash like a colon to add explanatory or amplifying information, especially when the information is surprising ^388615795