Em Dash: What Is It, When to Use It, and Why? This dash is called em dash because it is one em wide. In today’s article, you’ll learn about all the available methods you can use to type the Em Dash Symbol in Word using Windows or Mac. Replace: .em With: — Replace .en With: – Now each time you type .em (dot em) in Microsoft Word, it will be replaced by an em dash, and .en will give you an en dash. Hyphens, Em Dashes, and En Dashes: When to Use Them and How to Type Them. We will look at four ways to add an em dash in PowerPoint for Mac: Use a keyboard shortcut; Use the Symbol option to bring up Character Viewer; Create an AutoCorrect entry; 1. The em dash, which is what many people, like myself are getting frustrated with, when writing, need an em dash, the width of a capital M. Equivalent to 3 hyphens. Below we define each mark, explain when to use them, and provide instructions for typing them on both PCs and Macs. Also, the em dash may serve as a sort of bullet point, as in this to-do list: —wash the car —walk the dog —attempt to explain em and en dashes. This explanation is not intended to be exhaustive (for much more, see chapter 6 in CMOS), but I do hope that it helps to frame the different potential of each length of dash. The hyphen, the em dash, and the en dash are all horizontal marks of varying lengths.Each functions differently from the others.

If you want to do the same in Scrivener, go to Tool, Options, Corrections, Edit Substitutions. In Google Docs, go to Tools, Preferences. The em dash can be used in place of some commas, parentheses, colons, and semicolons. The length of an em dash comes from width of a traditional typesetter’s capital letter M—that’s how the dash gets its name. This is what I use in writing, but I have a slight gap between my en dash and dash to make my em dash. If all else fails, copy and paste the dash from another document, such as this page.

(Press Ctrl-C, or ⌘-C on a Mac); In your Word document, place the text cursor where you'd like the dash to go, and paste it. Em dashes can replace parentheses, commas, colons, and even semi-colons. Few punctuation marks have the spunky personality of an em dash.

Use a keyboard shortcut.

Using an em dash We use the em dash in sentences to create a strong break to show an interruption, a change of thought, or to show emphasis. 5. Em Dash or Em Rule is also sometimes referred to as Long Dash.It is a type of dash that is three times as long as a hyphen or minus sign (-). On a Mac computer, the em dash is made by pressing ALT + SHIFT + the hyphen key, located to the right of the zero. Notes: Whilst reading novels, you will see the longer em dash used. Charitable Giving Helps Advance Our Mission. En dash: [code]Option + - [/code]Em dash: [code]Shift + Option + - [/code] Insert an Em or En dash using copy and paste. Highlight the dash you want to insert:; Em dash: — En dash: – Copy it.