Hyphens and Dashes in Numbers

Hyphen or Dash?

home▸sitemap▸punctuation ▸hyphens and dashes in numbers

Writers are often unsure whether to use a hyphen (-) or a dash (–) in numbers and dates.

The Quick Answer

Use a hyphen, unless you're giving a to–from range.

Table of Contents

Hyphens are used in numbers:

(1) When writing numbers in full

Note: Hyphenate all numbers between 21 and 99 (less those ending 0, e.g., 50, 60).

(2) When writing fractions in full

(3) When dividing long numbers (e.g., serial numbers, telephone numbers)

Dashes are used between numbers to show ranges. For example:

These are en dashes (the same length as a lowercase "n"). They are shorter than em dashes (the same length as uppercase "M"). Read more about dashes with date ranges. Read more about dashes in numbers.

This page was written by Craig Shrives.

Was something wrong?

Use #gm to find us quicker.

Create a QR code.

play:

read:

This test is printable and sendable