Dashes in the UK
Posted: 02 May 2022, 19:47
Recently was in a sifting of short story's for a publisher in the UK and consistently encountered Dashes with spacing in the AP style. Is that what is taught in UK schools?
I'm sorry this may be coming late, but I hope it will help. Punctuation with dashes isn't only a UK thing. It is applicable in English generally. There are two types of dashes, the en- and em-dash, and they are both distinct from each other. They have different roles, too, and cannot be interchanged with each other.
Maybe the only place where style comes in (not entirely sure) is with the space before and after the dash. For example, (I think) both dialects have different formats:
Is it "James — the tall teacher — teaches well" and "A range of 10 – 50 people are unemployed" or "James—the tall teacher—teaches well" and "A range of 10–50 people are unemployed"? I have a feeling the first use of en-dash is incorrect though.