How to Insert a Long Hyphen

There is no em dash key on the keyboard.

The long hyphen, often referred to as an em dash, is used to offset phrases or thoughts -- as in this example -- in a sentence. In most word processing programs, the long hyphen is considered the same thing as the em dash. It can be two short hyphens typed together or it can be one solid line with no space break between the lines. Most word processing programs will automatically create a non-breaking long hyphen when you type two hyphens together.

Instructions

1. Find the appropriate place where the em dash will be used in the sentence.

2. Type two hyphens after the last word in the sentence. If you want to create a solid, non-breaking long hyphen, there should be no space between the word and the two hyphens.

3. Continue typing the rest of your phrase or sentence without adding a space after the two hyphens. Your word processing program will automatically convert the two hyphens to a long hyphen, or em dash. To add a second long hyphen if you're offsetting a phrase in mid-sentence, continue typing the phrase and insert the second set of dashes without adding spaces before or after them.

4. Check to see that your dashes were converted to a long hyphen. If your word processing program doesn't do this automatically, insert spaces before and after the hyphens -- like this -- to make the sentence stylistically clean.

References

• Word Tips: Inserting an Em Dash

Resources

• Moms Who Blog: Typing Tip: How to Make an Em Dash