typography

names

character	english name	alternative english name	german name	alternative german name
()	parentheses	round brackets	runde klammern
[]	box brackets	square brackets	eckige klammern
{}	curly brackets	braces	geschweifte klammern
<>	angle brackets	chevrons	spitze klammern
-	hyphen		bindestrich
–	en dash		(kurzer) gedankenstrich	halbgeviertstrich
—	em dash		langer gedankenstrich	geviertstrich

hyphen and dashes

The en dash has the width of the character "N". The em dash has the width of the character "M".

how to create

character	hex-code	TeX	HTML	HTML/XML	Unicode
–	0x2013	-- (two hyphens)	–	&#x2013	U+2013 EN DASH
—	0x2014	--- (three hyphens)	—	&#x2014	U+2014 EM DASH

usage

english

hyphen

appears within words. (wikipedia)
used for fractions ("two-thirds")

en dash

The en dash is used instead of a hyphen in compound adjectives for which neither part of the adjective modifies the other. That is, when each is modifying the noun. This is common in science, when names compose an adjective as in Bose–Einstein condensate. Compare this with "award-winning novel" in which "award" modifies "winning" and together they modify "novel" (wikipedia)
12 June – 3 July
for number ranges (55–60), without spaces (?)

em dash

used to make a break in the flow of a sentence
has no spaces around it, except when a new sentence begins.
"I wish you would— oh, never mind."
an en dash with spaces around it is also acceptable instead in "modern english"

german

en dash

used to make a break in the flow of a sentence (like the em dash in english)
used in intervals ("37–39") without spaces
linebreak only allowed after, not before the en dash
not used in numerations

em dash

unused?

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