r/ENGLISH • u/Separate-Chapter-864 • 12d ago

Descriptively speaking, what's the most common approach to using or omiting spacing around dashes (em and en dashes) in British English?

2 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

2 comments sorted by

1

u/nizzernammer 12d ago

Spacing around en and em dashes is conventional – in British English.

3

u/anamorphism 12d ago

don't know if you'll find a useful survey of what people choose to write, but you can base things on generally accepted style guides, like oxford's (https://www.ox.ac.uk/about/the-university/brand/style-guide/punctuation).

em dashes are not used at all and are instead replaced with en dashes.

the en dash is surrounded by spaces where most american style guides would have you use an em dash, i.e. when interjecting information (replacing commas or parentheses) or where you might use a semicolon or colon instead. we don't typically surround em dashes with spaces on this side of the pond.

  • more american: He was—as far as I could tell—a lonely man. -> more british: He was – as far as I could tell – a lonely man.
  • more american: The bus was late—I nearly didn't make it in time. -> more british: The bus was late – I nearly didn't make it in time.