Using en dashes to enclose parenthetical matter

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Although the en dash (–) is commonly used to indicate a range, as in "pp. 17–20" or "65–70 kg," a pair of en dashes is used to enclose

additional information within a sentence if that additional information is to be emphasized or highlighted, as in "Many persistent pesticides – although we do not realize it – are harmful to such beneficial creatures

as earthworms and honeybees."

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The two other means of enclosing such information, namely brackets and commas, serve two different purposes: brackets downplay the enclosed information, signalling that it is not particularly important,

whereas a pair of commas is a neutral device; the information is neither downplayed nor highlighted.

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The use of dashes to enclose parenthetical information also shows up a clear cultural divide as it were: whereas the style shown above – en

dashes with space on either side – is common in Britain and Europe, the US style is to use em dashes set closed up, that is without space, as in

"A ballpark figure—a rough estimate—originally referred to the estimated number of spectators in a baseball stadium."

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