---
title: Ems and Ens
---
## Ems and Ens
Ems and Ens are a form of the punctuation mark called 'dash'. Although similar in appearance to a hyphen, they serve different purposes.
### Em Dash
Use an Em dash to denote a break in the sentence. Substitute it for a comma or to denote a pause in a sentence. They are also used to attribute a quote to a speaker.
An Em dash is one em wide—the width of a point size of a typeface. Don't put any spaces before and after an em dash.
For example: The noise from the neighbor's house—it's killing me.
* Command for an Em dash on a mac : Shift-Option-Hyphen
* Command for an Em dash on Microsoft Word : Alt + Ctrl + (minus)
* Em dash in HTML : `—` or `—`
### En Dash
Use an En dash as a replacement for the word 'to' or to denote a range of numbers. An En dash is half the width of an Em dash. Don't put any spaces before and after an en dash.
For example: The first world war lasted from 1914–1918.
* Command for an En dash on a mac : Option-Hyphen
* Command for an En dash on Microsoft Word : Ctrl + (minus)
* En dash in HTML : `–` or `–`
#### More Information:
Dash - Wikipedia
Thinking With Type by Ellen Lupton - Thinking With Type
Modularscale - http://www.modularscale.com/