The em dash, the long dash you use most
When people ask for a long dash, they usually mean the em dash —, named because it is about as wide as a capital M. It marks a sudden break or an aside—like this—and can replace commas, parentheses or a colon when you want more emphasis. In dialogue it shows speech that is cut off: "But I thought—".
Many languages, including Spanish and Russian, also use the em dash to introduce lines of dialogue instead of quotation marks. In English, Chicago style sets it without spaces, while AP style puts a space on each side.
Two-em ⸺ and three-em ⸻ dashes
The two-em dash ⸺ shows that letters or a whole word are missing, for example a name left out on purpose (Mr. B⸺) or an illegible word in a transcribed letter. The three-em dash ⸻ is used in bibliographies: when you list several works by the same author, it replaces the repeated name after the first entry. Both follow Chicago style.
They are single characters, added to Unicode in version 6.1, so older fonts may not include them. If ⸺ or ⸻ shows as a box, type two or three em dashes in a row instead.
Horizontal bar and how to type long dashes
The horizontal bar ―, also called the quotation dash, often looks like an em dash but is meant to introduce quotations and dialogue. Use it when a style guide asks for a quotation dash; for ordinary breaks in a sentence, stick with the em dash.
Shortcuts exist for the em dash only: Option + Shift + - on a Mac, Alt + 0151 on Windows, two hyphens between words in Word, or a long press on the hyphen key on iPhone. For ⸺, ⸻ and ―, copy them here, or in Word type 2E3A, 2E3B or 2015 and press Alt + X. HTML has — for the em dash.
For the difference between hyphens and shorter dashes, see the dash symbol page. For long decorative lines, see horizontal line symbols and divider symbols.