What is the hyphen symbol used for?

What is the hyphen symbol used for?

A hyphen (-) is a punctuation mark that’s used to join words or parts of words. It’s not interchangeable with other types of dashes. Use a hyphen in a compound modifier when the modifier comes before the word it’s modifying.

Why do people put a dash at the end of a word?

A dash is a little horizontal line that floats in the middle of a line of text (not at the bottom: that’s an underscore). It’s longer than a hyphen and is commonly used to indicate a range or a pause. Dashes are used to separate groups of words, not to separate parts of words like a hyphen does.

What is the Unicode for a hyphen?

The Unicode dashes

glyph	codes	name
‐	U+2010	hyphen
‑	U+2011	non-breaking hyphen
‒	U+2012	figure dash
–	U+2013	en dash

How do you use a dash before a name?

In the USA it’s done that way – if not in Britain. A dash or hyphen before a signature is pretty common really. “To precede a credit line, signature, or name of an author or source at the end of a quotation or quoted passage. The more I see of men, the more I like dogs.

What is the hyphen symbol called?

The hyphen (-), the shortest of the three marks, is familiar (sometimes wretchedly so) to most writers. So is the em dash (—), more often called the long dash, or sometimes just the dash.

Should there be a hyphen after non?

If you’re adding a prefix like ‘pre’, ‘un’, ‘non’ or ‘anti’ to a proper adjective (that’s an adjective made from a proper noun [one with a capital letter] like American, Japanese, Victorian), use a hyphen: un-American, non-EC countries. Also use a hyphen if there’s a risk of mispronouncing a word.

What is a dash called in writing?

em dash
The dash (—), also called the em dash, is the long horizontal bar, much longer than a hyphen. Few keyboards have a dash, but a word processor can usually produce one in one way or another. If your keyboard can’t produce a dash, you will have to resort to a hyphen as a stand-in.

Is dash a character?

The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen and minus sign but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline.

What last name goes first?

Generally, there are no set rules or etiquette when it comes to deciding exactly how your hyphenated last name will read. You can go the “traditional” route and list your “maiden” name first, or you could choose to list your new last name first, followed by your original last name.

Can you put a dash before a quote?

Whether you want the dash inside or outside quotation marks when there is an interruption is really a matter of personal preference. When the quote is interrupted, you might decide to put the dash inside. If your thinking is that the dash is not part of the original quote, then put the dash outside the quotes.

How are hyphens used in the English language?

The English language does not have definitive hyphenation rules, though various style guides provide detailed usage recommendations, and have a significant amount of overlap in what they advise. Hyphens are mostly used to break single words into parts, or to join ordinarily separate words into single words.

Which is the shortest hyphen in a word?

A hyphen is the shortest in length of the three. It is used to divide words that break at the end of a line, or to connect parts of compound words such as go-between, ill-fated and run-of-the-mill. The hyphen is easily found on the keyboard to the right of the zero.

When to use a hyphen to divide words?

Use a hyphen to divide words at the end of a line if necessary, and make the break only between syllables: pref-er-ence. sell-ing. in-di-vid-u-al-ist. For line breaks, divide already-hyphenated words only at the hyphen: mass-. produced. self-. conscious.

When to hyphenate at the end of a line?

For line breaks in words ending in -ing, if a single final consonant in the root word is doubled before the suffix, hyphenate between the consonants; otherwise, hyphenate at the suffix itself: