How to use hyphens and dashes

What are hyphens and dashes?

A hyphen (-) joins words together to make their meaning clear.

It’s often used to create compound words or show that two or more words belong together before a noun:

A sharp-toothed predator.

A dash (–) is longer than a hyphen and is used to connect ideas in a sentence.

Dashes can replace commas, brackets, or colons to add extra information or create a dramatic effect:

The dinosaur turned slowly – something wasn’t right.

A pair of dashes can also be used to show parenthesis – extra information that could be lifted out and the sentence would still make sense.

Some dinosaurs were herbivores – despite their fearsome appearance – and only ate plants.

Learn how to use hyphens and dashes as you discover more about the Stygimoloch dinosaur, then put your knowledge to the test in the quiz!

Hyphens (-) join words to make compound words that help with clear descriptions, especially before nouns.

Dashes (–) are slightly longer than hyphens and are used to separate ideas, add extra information, create pauses for effect, or show parentheses.

Using both hyphens and dashes correctly helps writing stay clear, precise and engaging.

A dome-headed dinosaur – or two – would make an interesting pet!

Why is 'plant-eating' hyphenated in the sentence below?

Stygimoloch was a plant-eating dinosaur that lived in North America.

a) To show that the dinosaur is eating a plant right now.

b) To join the words 'plant' and 'eating' into one description.

Which of these sentences uses a dash correctly?

a) Many scientists believe that Stygimoloch – a dinosaur with a thick, spiky skull – may have been a juvenile Pachycephalosaurus.

b) Many scientists believe – that the dinosaur Stygimoloch was a juvenile Pachycephalosaurus.

Create a mini-fact file about a dinosaur.

It can be real – like Stygimoloch – or made-up.

Use at least two hyphenated adjectives to describe your dinosaur.
Include at least one dash to add extra information or explain something in more detail.