Difference between the en dash — and em dash –

Question

(...) en dashes are used with spaces and em dashes are used without them:[2]

[Em dash:] A flock of sparrows—some of them juveniles—alighted and sang.

[En dash:] A flock of sparrows – some of them juveniles – alighted and sang.

The en dash (but not the em dash) is also used to indicate spans or differentiation, where it may be considered to replace "and" or "to" (but not "to" in the phrase "from … to …"):[3]

The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was fought in western Pennsylvania and along the present US–Canadian border (Edwards, pp. 81–101).

The em dash (but not the en dash) is also used to set off the sources of quotes:

"Seven social sins: politics without principles, wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, knowledge without character, commerce without morality, science without humanity, and worship without sacrifice." —Mahatma Gandhi

Are these dashes different in Portuguese? I.e. do they have different meanings and contexts? If so, do they also have the same spacing rule?

A useful base for an answer: https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meia-risca — ANeves, Dec 14 '15 at 11:41
@ANeves wow, thanks! Meia-risca is completely new to me, in that page they reference ciberduvidas which calls it traço de ligação. — Armfoot, Dec 14 '15 at 11:48
I just tried to see what they had in https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/– and https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/— :) And it was the first time I read or heard "meia-risca", as well. — ANeves, Dec 14 '15 at 13:52
Curiously, neither site that's cited for the em dash beside en dash actually says anything with respect to using disagree with en and not with em. — user0721090601, Dec 17 '15 at 07:09

Inês Barata Feio Borges · Answer 1 · 2016-01-21T01:24:10.577

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Em dash

In literacy it is used to begin a dialog(almost always at the beggining of a line) and to end the sentence as well:

— Where is the castle?

— I don't know. Let's go to the mall. Maybe we'll find it there.

Also it is possible to use for a sentence that is written between brakets, and instead of the brakets you use the em dashes. Or to indicate a severe change in thought:

I'm talking about the best dog hunters -my friend's dogs- that I've seen in my life.

En dashes

Indicates a break in the dialog:

— Mary – told me John– you're a very interesting person.

Hyphens

Are used when breaking apart the current word writing at the end of a line:

Translation: When I got home I found a dead body lying on the floor. It looked like a murder. I wanted to call the cops, but the phone line was cutted off, so I left home to find a payphone and as soon as I reach the door a man came to me, but I was scared so I shooted him. That's why I'm in prison.

Also when the whole word is made up of two words that are separated with the hyphen, but is considered a single word:

cor verde-azul (colour green-blue) It is actually the name of a colour in portuguese

edited Jan 21 '16 at 01:24

answered Dec 16 '15 at 19:24

Inês Barata Feio Borges

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Aren't hyphens, instead of en dashes, used inside words? – Dan Getz Jan 18 '16 at 06:13
Hyphens and en dashes are the same thing – Inês Barata Feio Borges Jan 18 '16 at 21:50
No they aren't... this is a hyphen: " - " and this is an en dash: " – ". The en dash is longer. Do you have any source that indicates they're used the same in Portuguese? The Portuguese Wikipedia says they shouldn't be confused with each other. – Dan Getz Jan 18 '16 at 22:16
You mean that the em dashes are the same as hyphens? – Inês Barata Feio Borges Jan 20 '16 at 22:22
No, em dashes are longer than en dashes (like how the letter m is longer than n), so they're definitely not the same as hyphens, which are shorter than en dashes. – Dan Getz Jan 20 '16 at 22:26
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In order, you have hyphen, n-dash, and m-dash seen between quotes: " - – — ". It's possible to see all three together in one line (though certainly rare and generally only in well type set novels) – user0721090601 Jan 21 '16 at 01:52
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Boa parte desta resposta é uma tradução desta outra resposta sem indicação de fonte. – Jacinto Nov 30 '16 at 21:04
@InêsBarataFeioBorges como disse o Jacinto a sua reposta é, em parte, uma tradução da outra sem indicação da fonte. Agradecia que colocasse a indicação da fonte, porque assim como está é considerado plágio. – Jorge B. Dec 01 '16 at 10:13

Difference between the en dash — and em dash –

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