Incorrect: She is an Academy-Award nominee. Correct: She is an Academy Award nominee. Rule 10b. However, hyphenate most double last names. Example: Sir Winthrop Heinz-Eakins will attend. Rule Many editors do not hyphenate certain well-known expressions.
They believe that set phrases, because of their familiarity e. Examples: a high school senior an ice cream cone a twentieth century throwback. However, other editors prefer hyphenating all compound modifiers, even those with low risk of ambiguity. Examples: a high-school senior an ice-cream cone a twentieth-century throwback.
When in doubt, look it up. Some familiar phrases may require hyphens. For instance, is a book up to date or up-to-date? Don't guess; have a dictionary close by, or look it up online. A prefix a, un, de, ab, sub, post, anti , etc.
The word prefix itself contains the prefix pre. Prefixes expand or change a word's meaning, sometimes radically: the prefixes a, un , and dis , for example, change words into their opposites e.
Rule 1. Hyphenate prefixes when they come before proper nouns or proper adjectives. Rule 2. In describing family relations, great requires a hyphen, but grand becomes part of the word without a hyphen. Examples: My grandson and my granduncle never met.
My great-great-grandfather fought in the Civil War. For clarity, many writers hyphenate prefixes ending in a vowel when the root word begins with the same letter. However, in recognition of the modern trend toward spare hyphenation, do not hyphenate after pre and re prefixes when the root word begins with e. Hyphenate all words beginning with the prefixes self-, ex- i. Examples: self-assured ex-mayor all-knowing.
Use a hyphen with the prefix re when omitting the hyphen would cause confusion with another word. Examples: Will she recover from her illness? I have re-covered the sofa twice.
Omitting the hyphen would cause confusion with recover. I must re-press the shirt. Omitting the hyphen would cause confusion with repress. The stamps have been reissued. A hyphen after re- is not needed because there is no confusion with another word. Writers often hyphenate prefixes when they feel a word might be distracting or confusing without the hyphen. Examples: de-ice With no hyphen we get deice , which might stump readers.
A suffix y, er, ism, able , etc. Suffixes form new words or alter the original word to perform a different task. For example, the noun scandal can be made into the adjective scandalous by adding the suffix ous. It becomes the verb scandalize by adding the suffix ize. Suffixes are not usually hyphenated.
Some exceptions: -style, -elect, -free, -based. Examples: Modernist-style paintings Mayor-elect Smith sugar-free soda oil-based sludge. For clarity, writers often hyphenate when the last letter in the root word is the same as the first letter in the suffix.
Use discretion—and sometimes a dictionary—before deciding to place a hyphen before a suffix. But do not hesitate to hyphenate a rare usage if it avoids confusion. Examples: the annual dance-athon an eel-esque sea creature. Although the preceding hyphens help clarify unusual terms, they are optional and might not be every writer's choice. Still, many readers would scratch their heads for a moment over danceathon and eelesque.
Enable JavaScript Uh oh! Hide Notice. Hyphens Between Words Rule 1a. There are a couple more things to consider when hyphenating compound adjectives: Is one of the words comparative or superlative? If so, is the other word a participle? When a compound adjective comprises a comparative or a superlative and a participle, do not hyphenate. Use an en dash! Unless the first part is a prefix such as pre-, anti- or co- , both words should be capitalised the same way.
This is because the adjective is made of two separate words, each of which could stand alone. The hyphen fuses the prefix and the word it is modifying into a single word.
And a final note… All this is superseded by the rule that if the meaning is unclear, confusing or misleading without a hyphen, add a hyphen! Learn more about our editing services or contact us. Quibbles over quotation marks. A well-known local singer will perform tonight. The singer performing tonight is well known. Hyphenated compound words are the ones obviously with a hyphen between the words. Over time, many hyphenated compounds become closed compounds— teen-ager became teenager for instance.
Here are a few examples of common hyphenated compound words:. Hyphenated words tend to become closed compounds single words with no hyphens over time. Email instead of e-mail , for example, is increasingly common.
Notebook Superman Waistcoat Bookstore Fireman. Open compounds are typically made up of two nouns that are used together to represent a single idea. A good dictionary is the best place to check whether a compound is open or not. Living room Real estate Dinner table Coffee mug. When numbers are used as the first part of a compound adjective, use a hyphen to connect them to the noun that follows them.
This way, the reader knows that both words function like a unit to modify another noun. This applies whether the number is written in words or in digits.
The president of the company gave a minute speech to the Board of Directors. He is knowledgeable in thirteenth-century politics. The boy threw a rock at the second-story window. He is a victim of Type 2 diabetes. When using a fraction e. I half-wanted to commit a felony.
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