Hyphens vs Dashes - Punctuation

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Two words that are functioning together as an adjective require a hyphen between them:

• A well-known scholar...
• A literary-minded critic...
• A structure-based analysis

Also, hyphens are always used with prefixes "self-" "all-" "ex-" and the suffix "elect-":

• A self-help clinic...
• An all-inclusive trip...
• His ex-wife...
• The president-elect...


When adjectives are listed in a series, the hyphens stay with the variable part of the compound adjective:

• A first-class / second-class / third-class ticket

Dash

A dash looks like a double hyphen. When typing, putting two hyphens together, with no spaces before or after, creates a dash. Dashes are usually used to set off information that would be in parenthesis

• Wikipedia-- a popular website--can be a good source of basic information.

Dashes can also be used to set off appositives (nouns or noun phrases that modify a nearby noun)

• Basic needs--food, clothes, and shelter--can be very expensive.


Dashes can also indicate a sharp break in the flow of a sentence, such as a list or shirt in tone:

• Oil can be made from many plants--palm trees, soybeans, sunflowers, peanuts, olives and coconuts.
• Sam took a deep breath, dribbled the ball several times, threw the ball with all his strength--and missed the basket. ↑▲▲▲▲▲▲▲↑