2 to 5 vs. two to five. Which is correct?

[scofansnags]

Which is correct in relation to the span of days in the sentence.

Expect delivery within 2 to 5 days.
Expect delivery within two to five days.
Expect delivery within 2--5 days.

Should a dash be used if not spelling out the numbers?

 

[Barb_D]

If you have the ability in your word processor, you want an "en" dash for this. The double hyphen can stand in for the em-dash when you can't easily insert one, but would not be appropriate here.

 

[scofansnags]

The "en" dash doesn't hold up in my outgoing e-mails. Some email recepients just get some very strange symbols instead of the en dash. That's why I tried to put 2 hyphens together to make the en dash.

 

[Barb_D]

Then just use a hyphen. A double hyphen would be read as an em-dash.