How many hyphens

What about electro-magnetic versus electromagnetic? Collins and Longman confirm that only the second is in use among those who use the term regularly, but again Oxford clings stubbornly to the antiquated and pointless hyphen. You should always respect the usage of the owner of the name.

Now here is something important: it is usually essential to hyphenate compound modifiers. Compare the following: She kissed him good night. She gave him a good-night kiss. The hyphen in the second example is necessary to show that good-night is a single compound modifier. Without the hyphen, the reader might easily be misled: Here the reader might be momentarily flummoxed into thinking that she had given him some kind of " night kiss ", whatever that means.

Here are some further examples: Her dress is light green. She's wearing a light-green dress. This book token is worth ten pounds. This is a ten-pound book token. She always turned up for the parties at the end of term. She always turned up for the end-of-term parties. This essay is well thought out. This is a well-thought-out essay. Her son is ten years old.

She has a ten-year-old son. Use hyphens liberally in such compound modifiers; they are often vital to comprehension: a light-green dress is not necessarily a light green dress ; our first-class discussion is quite different from our first class discussion ; a rusty nail cutter is hardly the same as a rusty nail-cutter ; a woman-hating religion is utterly different from a woman hating religion ; and a nude-review producer is most unlikely to be a nude review producer!

You can mislead your reader disastrously by omitting these crucial hyphens: She always turned up for the end of term parties does not appear to mean the same as the hyphenated example above example adapted from Carey Consider the next two examples: The earliest known hominid was Homo habilis.

The earliest-known hominid was Homo habilis. These do not mean the same thing at all. The first means that, of all the hominids we know about, H. The second means that, of all the hominids, H. Effectively, the first sentence includes the structure [ earliest ] [ known hominid ], while the second includes the structure [ earliest-known ] [ hominid ]. Many compound adjectives should be hyphenated. Here are some examples:. With compound adjectives formed from the adverb well and a participle e.

For example, year-old trees clearly refers to trees that are years old, while year old trees could equally refer to trees that are all one year old. You should NOT put a hyphen within phrasal verbs — verbs made up of a main verb and an adverb or preposition. For example:. A compound noun is one consisting of two component nouns. In principle , such nouns can be written in one of three different ways:.

In the past, these sorts of compounds were usually hyphenated, but the situation is different today. The tendency is now to write them as either one word or two separate words. However, the most important thing to note is that you should choose one style and stick to it within a piece of writing. Hyphens can be used to join a prefix to another word, especially if the prefix ends in a vowel and the other word also begins with one e.

All rights reserved. Six Hyphen Rules With Examples Understanding the rules is a lot easier when you can see them in action. Rule 1: Use a Hyphen for Two-Word Modifiers Before Nouns When a modifier consists of two words that join together to describe a noun, you need to use a hyphen. There are a few key things to keep in mind here: The two-word modifier needs to come before the noun. Both words need to function together to describe the noun.

Check out these examples: I only eat grass-fed beef. The alley was full of hungry-looking cats. That is a dog-friendly campground. The clearly upset teacher held the students after class. Here are some examples of hyphenated compound words: free-for-all state-of-the-art check-in mother-in-law eye-opener editor-in-chief six-pack out-of-date If you are unsure about whether a compound word is hyphenated, take a moment to look it up in the dictionary.

Always use a hyphen with self-, ex-, and all-, as in these examples: The test was self-administered. My ex-husband was a computer programmer. My children believe I am all-knowing.

Also use a hyphen when the prefix ends with the same letter as the start of the root word: We should re-elect the mayor. In addition, you should always use a hyphen when a prefix comes before a proper noun, as in these examples: Some people might consider skipping the parade un-American. We will take a vacation in mid-August. That is a beautiful pre-Raphaelite painting. You can see them in these examples: I love these restaurant-style tortilla chips.

The mayor-elect will be present at the ceremony. Our backyard is mosquito-free this time of year. You should also use a hyphen when the suffix starts with the same letter or sound that ends the root word, as in these examples: The pitcher has a drip-proof lid.