Do not confuse a hyphen with a longer dash (–).

不要将连字符与较长的破折号（–）混淆。

In writing, we use a longer dash like a comma, (, ) or a period (.) to separate sentences.

在写作中，我们使用较长的破折号，如逗号（，）或句点（。）把句子分开。

If he was lucky, there would also be owls carrying letters from his best friends Ron and Hermione, though any expectation he'd had that their letters would bring him news had long since been dashed.

如果他运气好，猫头鹰会送来他最好的朋友罗恩和赫敏的来信，他原来指望他们的来信会给他带来消息，但这份期待早就破灭了。

If he was lucky, there would also be owls carrying letters from his best friends Ron and Hermione, although any expectation here he'd had that their letters would bring him news had long since been dashed.

如果他运气好，猫头鹰会送来他最好的朋友罗恩和赫敏的来信，他原来指望他们的来信会给他带来消息，但这份期待早就破灭了。