Readers need to be able to tell the difference between hyphens and dashes because these two pieces of punctuation serve different purposes. Here are some guidelines for typing hyphens and dashes so that readers can interpret them clearly.

1. Do not place a space before or after a dash or a hyphen.

   Example: The chef’s secret—adding one-third teaspoon of cinnamon to his spaghetti sauce—was revealed only after his death.

2. Do not use a single hyphen when a dash is needed (or vice versa). Two side-by-side hyphens are equivalent to a dash. In fact, your word-processing program may automatically convert these into a dash, which is longer than a single hyphen.

   Example: The chef’s daughter - hoping to follow in her father’s footsteps - soon developed her own secret recipe for tiramisu.

   Revised: The chef’s daughter—hoping to follow in her father’s footsteps—soon developed her own secret recipe for tiramisu.

   Here the single hyphen has been replaced with a dash.

   Revised: The chef’s daughter--hoping to follow in her father’s footsteps--soon developed her own secret recipe for tiramisu.

   Here the single hyphen has been replaced by two side-by-side hyphens, which are equivalent to a dash.

Remember: Type one hyphen for a hyphen. Type two side-by-side hyphens for a dash. Do not put a space before or after a hyphen or a dash.

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