Dashes: Should I use ens or ems?
This is a hyphen: -
This is an en dash: –
This an em dash: —
En dashes are slightly longer than hyphens. Em dashes are even longer.
Typing Dashes
option+hyphen en dash on macOS
option+shift+hyphen em dash on macOS
En dashes are generally used for a range of values (1977–2024).
Both en and em dashes are used for dividing thoughts within a sentence. A spaced en dash is the standard throughout most of Europe. An unspaced em dash is more common in the U.S..
My Recommendation
Personally, I prefer the spaced en dash for marking a break in a sentence. It’s less distracting because it’s not so long, and it feels more semantically accurate as a separator (not connector) of clauses.
(That said, here’s a rare case in which an em would reduce confusion.)
Caveat: Dashes Vary by Font!
Keep in mind that relative dash lengths differ depending on the font. Some fonts have a super long em dash that really sticks out in a paragraph. Other fonts have an en that is not much different than a hyphen.
Also, some fonts have space built into the sidebearings of their dashes, while others butt right up against neighboring letters.
You can work with thin and hair spaces to give your dashes some air. If a regular word space is too wide, try those narrower spaces before you settle on no space at all (a practice which I find to be too crowded for most fonts).
Conclusion
So, ens or ens for separating clauses? There is no hard rule, except to pick a style and stay consistent. Do what looks best in the typeface and column width you're using, and what serves the linguistic purpose of the dash without distraction. In general, a dash should separate thoughts, but not by so much that the reader loses the flow of the sentence.
