

To create an em dash, press Shift, Option, and the minus key. To create an en dash, press the option and minus key.

The system will automatically replace the two dashes and space with an em dash.Īlternatively, you can type key combinations on macOS.

On current macOS devices, type two hyphens in a row followed by a space–this three-key sequence creates an em dash. The system appropriately assumes you’re trying to indicate a numeric range, so it serves up an en dash instead of an em dash. However, if you type a number followed by two hyphens, the system will replace the hyphens with an en dash. On iOS devices, another option is to type two hyphens in a row to create an em dash. The long-hold on the hyphen gives you access to four characters: A hyphen, an en dash, an em dash, and a bullet ( Figure B). Long-hold the hyphen for access to the en dash and em dash with Gboard on Android or the default keyboard on iOS. The Insert | Special Characters Menu also gives you access to thousands of other characters on your system.

You can also search, select, and insert an em dash ( Figure A). The first search result shown in the grid of characters will be the em dash select it to insert it. While in a Google Doc on Chrome, on any laptop or desktop computer, go to Insert | Special Characters and type Em Dash in the search box. To type an en dash or an em dash in Google Docs, try one of the following techniques. SEE: Google Drive: Tips and tricks for business professionals (Tech Pro Research) And on Android and iOS devices, switch to the number key screen, then look for the hyphen: On iOS, it is below the 1 key, and on Android, it is to the left of the + key. On most US English keyboards, you’ll find the hyphen in the upper right corner, to the right of the zero key. Of the three marks, only the hyphen appears as a character you can type (or tap) directly with a keyboard. The em dash–the longest of the three–separates a phrase from a sentence, as shown here. An en dash, which is slightly longer, signifies a range (e.g., 2004-2010), indicates scores (e.g., 4-2), or links connected entities (e.g., New York-Los Angeles or east-west). The hyphen often joins two words, such as cloud-based, front-facing, or two-dimensional. The hyphen (-), en dash (-), and em dash (–) each play a distinct role in punctuation. One of the most beautiful and user friendly Linux distributions gets even better Get lifetime access to Microsoft Office 2021 for just $50 How to share your screen in Google Meet for macOS
