
This may include ranges such as those between dates, times, or numbers. The en dash is commonly used to indicate a closed range of values – a range with clearly defined and finite upper and lower boundaries – roughly signifying what might otherwise be communicated by the word "through" in American English, or "to" in International English. This is in contrast to the em dash, which is usually closed, though a common exception of this rule is in newspapers. It is usually held that, when used as an interrupter, the en dash should be "open", spaced on both sides.

In TeX, the standard fonts have no figure dash however, the digits normally all have the same width as the en dash, so an en dash can be a substitution for the figure dash. In informal usage, the hyphen-minus - ( U+002D - HYPHEN-MINUS), provided as standard on most keyboards, is often used instead of the figure dash.
#REDACTED BOX COPY AND PASTE PLUS#
The minus sign − ( U+2212 − MINUS SIGN) glyph is generally set a little higher, so as to be level with the horizontal bar of the plus sign. In contrast, the en dash – ( U+2013 – EN DASH) is generally used for a range of values. (Most fonts have digits of equal width.) It is used within numbers such as the phone number 555‒0199, especially in columns so as to maintain alignment. The figure dash ‒ ( U+2012 ‒ FIGURE DASH) has the same width as a numerical digit. A horizontal bar (also called quotation dash) or the em dash, but not the en dash, introduces quoted text.The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was fought in western Pennsylvania and along the present US–Canada border

An en dash, but not an em dash, indicates spans or differentiation, where it may replace "and", "to", or "through".Glitter, felt, yarn, and buttons – his kitchen looked as if a clown had exploded.Ī flock of sparrows – some of them juveniles – alighted and sang. Glitter, felt, yarn, and buttons-his kitchen looked as if a clown had exploded.Ī flock of sparrows-some of them juveniles-alighted and sang. An (unspaced) em dash or a spaced en dash can be used to mark a break in a sentence, and a pair can be used to set off a parenthetical statement.Usage varies both within English and within other languages, but the usual conventions for the most common dashes in printed English text are these: To scratch your Head, and bite your Nails.
