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There are three different types of characters that are found in the family of dashes. The characters that make up the family of dashes are the hyphens, em-dash, and en-dash. Each of these styles of dash have a specific usage.
The Hyphen is used as a link within or combining words. When you are dividing a word so that it fits on a line of text (specif-ic). A hyphen is also used when combining two words (fast-pace) or between the prefix and the word (re-visit), or to help clarify the meaning of words(re-examine), clarifying open compounds, separating number groups in phone and Social Security numbers, and for connecting written-out fractions (two-thirds).
Note: A minus sign and a hyphen are not the same thing. The minus sign found in they number keypad area is a minus/hyphen but not truly either. (This is a true minus sign “− “ and this is a true hyphen “‐“. As you can see the hyphen is shorter and slightly lower than the minus sign.)
A soft-hyphen will not appear when you enter the shortcut key. What it does is place a hyphen break point in the text that you are writing. If the word you inserted the soft hyphen in appears at the end of the sentence and needs to break across two lines, it will do so at the soft hyphen insertion point.
En-dash are also used as links. They are used for number ranges, such as dates (1996–2010, or Sept.–Nov.), page numbers (page 5–25), or scores. An em-dash is also used in place of a hyphen when combining words when one of them is a two word statement (Los Angles–Miami)
Em-dashes are used for separations. An em-dash can be used in place of a colon, or in pairs as is a parenthesis. Em-dashes fill the complete space allotted for a character within the font face, as to leave no white space on either side of the character. Examples of em-dash usage are: Dreams—the minds wanderings—are often interpreted as having prophetic meaning. The em-dashes also used to precede quotation attributions.
A 2-em dash is used to represent –missing letters in a word. (h––ll)
The 3-em dash (which is the width of three m’s in the corresponding font) most frequently appears in a bibliography when an author’s name is cited more than once. Repeat listings by that same author feature a 3-em dash rather than the author’s name again.
Windows offers a Character Map that will allow you to identify special fonts that are not found on they keyboard—such as the minus and true hyphen—and insert them into your text. The Character Map is located, from your START menu, under Program Files, Accessory, System Tools.
Referenced Resources: Using Em Dashesand En Dashes Properly by Suzanne Gilad (http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/using-em-dashes-and-en-dashes-properly.html#ixzz14tz47uEw3)The Complete Manual of Typography by James Felici pages 204–205
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