Hyphens and Dashes - Le Tiret et le trait d'union

Using French punctuation for links, lists, dialogues, and more

Hyphens and m-dashes are important in both English and French, but they are considerably more common in the latter. This lesson explains when, why, and how to use hyphens and m-dashes in French.

I.	Trait d'union   -   Hyphen			No space before or after
	A.	Rapport : Indicate a link between words or parts of words.
		1.	Compound words	grand-mère, couvre-lit, quatre-vingts
		2.	Hyphenated names	Jean-Luc, Marie-Lise
		3.	Imperative + pronoun	aide-moi, fais-le, allez-y
		4.	Inversion	veux-tu, pouvez-vous, a-t-il
		5.	Prefixes	non-fumeur, quasi-collision
		6.	Set expressions	c'est-à-dire, vis-à-vis
		7.	Suffixes	celui-ci, cet homme-là
	B.	Césure : Link the parts of a word that breaks at the end of a line such as Je veux aller à la bou- tique.
II.	Tiret   —   M-dash			Space before and after
	A.	Éléments d'une liste :
			— deux bananes — une pomme — un kilo de fraises
	B.	Incise : Emphasize a comment (aside, interjection, etc)
			Quand j'étais à la banque — quelle horreur ! — je l'ai vu.
			Paul — mon meilleur ami — va arriver demain.
	C.	Dialogue : Indicate each change of speaker
			— J'ai vu Michel aujourd'hui. — Ah bon ? — Oui, il était avec sa fille.

  

French Punctuation     Symbols and Punctuation Marks Additional Writing Resources     French Grammar Differences Between French and English

  

  

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