Hyphens and Dashes in Numbers (with Examples)

by Craig Shrives

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Printable & Sendable Test

Hyphens in Numbers

Hyphens are used in numbers:

(1) When writing numbers in full.

two hundred thirty-two
ninety-six

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

(2) When writing fractions in full.

one-third
two-thirds
three-fifths

(3) When putting dividers in long numbers (e.g., serial numbers or telephone numbers)

555-1234-1234
X1G44-4453E-QW334-QPLO4

Printable and Sendable Test

Dashes between Numbers

Dashes are used between numbers:

(1) To show ranges.

0800–0900 hrs
2014–2020
10–15 minutes
100–120 staff

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.

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Nowadays, It's Safe to Use Hyphens in Ranges

Hyphens are not meant to be used for ranges (e.g., 10-12, 1967- 1971). Dashes are used for this purpose. However, given that the hyphen is so easy to find on a keyboard, hyphens have become acceptable for ranges. Only a very strict grammar pedant would pull you up for using hyphens. If this were to happen, you could make a good case for the pedant being out of date.

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