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Inserting dashes
To enter en and em dashes, you can use the Replace dashes option under Tools > AutoCorrect > Options. This option replaces two hyphens, under certain conditions, with the corresponding dash.
In the following table, the A and B represent text consisting of letters A to z or digits 0 to 9.
| Text that you type:
| Result
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| A - B (A, space, minus, space, B)
| A – B (A, space, en-dash, space, B)
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| A -- B (A, space, minus, minus, space, B)
| A – B (A, space, en-dash, space, B)
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| A--B (A, minus, minus, B)
| A—B (A, em-dash, B)
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| A-B (A, minus, B)
| A-B (unchanged)
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| A -B (A, space, minus, B)
| A -B (unchanged)
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| A --B (A, space, minus, minus, B)
| A –B (A, space, en-dash, B)
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Another means of inserting en or em dashes is through the Insert > Special Characters menu. Select the U+2013 or U+2014 character, respectively.
A third method uses keyboard shortcuts. These shortcuts vary depending on your operating system.
 | You can also record macros to insert en and em dashes and assign those macros to unused key combinations, for example Ctrl+Shift+N and Ctrl+Shift+M. For more information, see Chapter 17 (Customizing Writer).
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Windows
Hold down one of the Alt keys and type on the numeric keypad: 0150 for an en dash or 0151 for an em dash. The dash appears when you release the Alt key.
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| On a keyboard with no numeric keypad, use a Fn (Function) key combination to type the numbers. (The Fn key is usually to the right of the left-hand Ctrl key on the keyboard.)
For example, on a US keyboard layout, the combination for an en dash should be Alt+Fn+mjim and for an em dash it should be Alt+Fn+mjij.
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Linux
Hold down the Compose key and type two hyphens and a period for an en dash, or three hyphens for an em dash. The dash appears when you release the Compose key.
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| The key that operates as a Compose key varies with the Linux distribution. It is usually one of the Alt or Win keys, but may be another key, and should be user-selectable.
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Mac OS X
Hold down the Option (Alt) key and type a hyphen for an en dash. For an em dash, the combination is Shift+Option+Hyphen.
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