Before tech, I was an English Literature major. Sometimes this experience shows up in surprising ways in my work and lately it has been justice for the em dash in our new world that is increasingly written by Artificial Intelligence.
An em dash is a structural choice for tonal effect. It carries more weight than a comma and more fluidity than a period. It follows the rhythm of spoken thought, creating a hinge in a sentence—one that allows a sentence to pivot or deepen without forcing a full stop.
Want an easy guide for what to use when?
Comma = gentle connection
Semicolon = balanced partnership
Period = full stop
Em dash = spotlight + momentum
En dash = connection between equals
Em dash or en dash?
Using a spaced en dash ( – ) in place of an em dash is a recognized British style convention. You’ll often see it in British publishing, journalism, and corporate writing.
So this:
It creates a pause – a shift in thought – without stopping completely.
Instead of:
It creates a pause—a shift in thought—without stopping completely.
Can they be used interchangeably aligned with your visual preference? Almost. It isn’t purely a visual choice as it will have an impact on your tone when you use an en dash instead. An en dash signals a cleaner, less editorial tone. If you want your writing to maintain a conversational or voice-driven tone, then an em dash is a better fit.
The most important thing to remember is that you cannot use them inconsistently in one piece of writing. The en dash without spaces also still has an important role in text to connect ranges and create relationships (ex: 1987-2026, cost-benefit, New York-London). Don’t forget the spaces when your intent is to continue momentum and spotlight a thought.
Beware of American bias
AI amplifies the dominant writing conventions based on training from LLMs (large language models). This most often means an American bias by defaulting to the em dash over the more restrained, spaced en dash we see in British writing. Even when prompting from a British perspective, you’ll see responses lean toward em dash usage because it’s more prevalent in the data the models are trained on.
What shows up in your writing (when supported by AI generation) is a reflection of what’s been most widely modeled. That doesn’t make it wrong, but it does make it something to be aware of. We all know this though I cannot resist repeating: always edit to match your intention, voice, and style.
Maybe instead of hating on the em dash, we can celebrate this moment a bit. AI is introducing more people who don’t come from a language or literature background to structural tools like this that help them express ideas more clearly and intentionally. To me, that feels like progress.
Carry on, friends 👋🏼 The em dash will always belong because it honors the moment when a sentence needs space by allowing language to reflect how ideas actually unfold—unevenly, emphatically, and alive.
Emily Mancini 