What Is an Em Dash?

An em dash (—) is a punctuation mark that we can use in a variety of different situations. It is longer than both the en dash (–) and the hyphen (-) and we use em dashes in sentences in unique ways to the other two.

An em dash or long dash (—) is what comes to mind of most people when they hear the word “dash”. If you don’t want to use parentheses or colons, you can substitute them with a long dash. They are also great if you want to emphasize or clarify something.

If you’re wondering how did this punctuation mark get its name, there’s a pretty logical explanation. The thing is, it’s the same width as the letter M, and that is why it’s called an em dash. In contrast, the en dash (–) has the same width as the letter N.