How to write a date interval?

Question

What is a correct way of writing a date interval?

a) Jun 2010 -- Aug 2012
b) Jun 2010--Aug 2012
c) Jun 2010 - Aug 2012
d) Jun 2010-Aug 2012
c) other?

@Xavier: In my opinion, this question isn't really a duplicate, since it is really more general. Note that the other duplicate candidate also contains dash-less answers. — T. Verron, Apr 27 '13 at 18:55
Yes, it is related to these questions. My concern is should I put a spaces around the en-dash: is it a or b? — Kimi, Apr 27 '13 at 18:55
@Kimi Why is this a (La)TeX question at all? (No offence; just asking.) — Svend Tveskæg, Apr 27 '13 at 18:59
@SvendTveskæg, it is a typographical issue, and this is the best place I know to get a competent opinion. Also I'm writing a document in LaTeX, so there might be a LaTeX specific solution. — Kimi, Apr 27 '13 at 19:06

Mario S. E. · Answer 1 · 2013-04-27T19:13:00.713

2

- is used for hyphenation of words, as in: open-minded

-- is used for separating numbers, such as: 1998--1999

--- is used for saying something in the middle of a sentence, e.g.: I didn't look back ---at least not with my eyes--- as I walked away.

The three of them produce a different output, as each one is little larger than the other.

For dates it depends on what format you are using, and I'm not aware of any "restrictions" about what to use, but personally I believe you should go with whatever looks best for you.

edited Apr 27 '13 at 19:13

answered Apr 27 '13 at 18:23

Mario S. E.

18,609

1

You've got - and -- mixed up. -- is the en-dash, used to separate ranges, while - is the hyphen, used to hyphenate words. See When should I use an em-dash, an en-dash, and a hyphen? – Xavier Apr 27 '13 at 18:51
1

As for dates, the only correct form is to use --, as it's a range. – Xavier Apr 27 '13 at 18:53
@Xavier, you're right, I took a look here: http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/LaTeX/Text_Formatting#Dashes_and_hyphens – Mario S. E. Apr 27 '13 at 19:10

How to write a date interval?

1 Answers1