Dates and Time

As we’ve already covered the reasons behind using an en dash here, we’ll jump straight in with some examples of how to use them below. We used one of them incorrectly. See if you can spot which one:

1) I work 9–5.       (Correct)

2) Sally’s working hours are from 8–4.       (Incorrect)

3) Martin Luther King Jr. (1929–1968) was a brave activist.       (Correct)

Did you spot the mistake?

Number 2 was incorrect because it used from and an en dash. Here are the two ways it should have looked:

• Sally’s working hours are from 8 to 4.
• Sally works 8–4.

Scores

There aren’t many common mistakes made here, but we’ve hidden one in there. Can you notice it?

1) The jury was not unanimous, but voted 11–1.       (Correct)

2) The Raptors beat the Bucks 13–11.       (Correct)

3) The group voted on which game to play. Baseball won 7-4.       (Incorrect)

Did you notice something different?

In number 3 we snuck in a hyphen (-) not an en dash (–). That was pretty harsh, but we wanted to point out how vigilant you need to be to make sure you are using the correct punctuation.

Connections and Conflict

Again, see if you can spot one mistake in the sentences below:

1) The north–south highway was busy, so we took the east–west and went around it.       (Correct)

2) The conservative—liberal debate is always heated.       (Incorrect)

3) The North Carolina–Virginia border is long.       (Correct)

Did you spot it that time?

Number 2 used an em dash (—) instead of an en dash (–). Remember, hyphens are the shortest (-), en dashes are in the middle (–) and em dashes are the longest (—).

En Dash (–) Infographic