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HYPHENS

 

A hyphen is used to join two or more words to create a compound word. It is also used at the end of a line in a book to divide a word that was too long to fit.

It’s not always easy to know whether to hyphenate a compound word. I decide in one of two ways. I look up the word in Merriam-Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary, or I make the choice to leave out the hyphen.

A good example of the latter is how I spell the word fairytale. When I look it up in Merriam-Webster’s, it is spelled fairy-tale. Since I’m a speculative fiction author, I’ve given myself permission to spell it without the hyphen. The same is true of the word storyworld. No version of this word appears in Merriam-Webster’s, therefore the proper way to spell it would be as an open compound of two separate words: story world. Due to my profession, however, I’ve coined it in a closed compound form.

I’ve given myself permission to break those rules due to my experience as a professional author. Also, if you read fantasy or science fiction, it’s common to see authors creating their own compound words for fantasy terms, be they hyphenated or not. This is perfectly acceptable.

This does not, however, give you permission to freely misspell any compound word you feel like misspelling. There is no reason to spell rainbow, basketball, fireworks, or airplane like rain bow, basket ball, fire works, or air plane, nor is it correct to spell them rain-bow, basket-ball, fire-works, or air-plane. If you’re not sure, grab that dictionary and double check.

 

Hyphens with Compound Adjectives

A compound adjective is two or more words joined together to modify the same noun. Compound adjectives are read as a single word, and they should only be hyphenated when they come before the noun they modify.

 

So they took him and laid him out of the way on the drawing-room sofa with a drink at his elbow, and they went back to their dark business.1

 

It was a tiny, grubby-looking pub.2

 

He was around 5’10” with a muscular neck and a don’t-mess-with-me body.3

 

The werewolf was a cold-blooded killer.

 

I’ve never met a more close-minded man.

 

I can’t believe she read the entire 650-page book.

 

When I read the back-cover copy, I was hooked.

 

The Grant family adopted a two-year-old girl from Africa.

 

What if the compound adjective comes after the noun it modifies? In that case, it is not usually hyphenated.

 

By nature, Jamie is easy going, which sometimes gets her into trouble.

 

Since “easy going” comes after the noun it is modifying, “Jamie”, it is not hyphenated. But if “easy-going” came before the word it is modifying, “nature”, it would be hyphenated.

 

Jamie’s easy-going nature sometimes gets her into trouble.

 

Here are some more examples of compound adjectives that are not hyphenated.

 

Michael and Dave’s apartment is off campus.

 

The job was going to be long term.

 

That burner is red hot.

 

Sophie is well respected in the art community.

 

The manuscript is now up to date.

 

The Grant family adopted a girl from Africa who is two years old.

 

Some compound adjectives are always hyphenated, like any combination of in-law. When in doubt, consult a dictionary.

 

She is my mother-in-law.

 

The school’s computer system is state-of-the-art.

 

Compounds with Verb and Noun Forms

Some compounds have a verb form and a noun form. They should be separate words when used as verbs and one word when used as nouns.

 

I can’t believe the computer shut down. (verb)

 

Can you believe the computer suffered a shutdown? (noun)

 

Do not hyphenate compounds formed with -ly adverbs.

There is no need to put a hyphen after an

-ly adverb since such words modify a modifier, not a noun.

 

She had perfectly coiffed hair.

Ancient Greek was a wholly irrelevant college course.

 

Add a hyphen for clarity.

Sometimes what you’ve written is grammatically correct but confusing. In such cases, adding a hyphen will provide clarity.

 

Mark loved the red trimmed black Corvette.

Mark loved the red-trimmed black Corvette.

Mark loved the red trimmed-black Corvette.

 

The first sentence is unclear due to the lack of hyphens or even a comma to help the reader discern the meaning. The second sentence tells us that the Corvette is black with red trim. The third sentence tells us the Corvette is red with black trim.

 

Be careful where you put the hyphen.

It can be easy to confuse readers by accidentally putting your hyphen in the wrong place. Make sure your hyphen is doing exactly what you want it to do.

 

At the zoo, Kylie saw a man-eating bear.

At the zoo, Kylie saw a man eating bear.

 

In the first sentence, Kylie saw a bear that is known for eating humans. In the second sentence, Kylie saw a man eating a bear. Eww.

 

Bo walked through the heavy metal-detector at the airport.

Bo walked through the heavy-metal detector at the airport.

 

In the first sentence, Bo walked through a metal detector that weighted a lot. In the second sentence, it sounds like he walked through a detector of heavy-metal music.

 

Use suspended hyphens to simplify adjectives.

When you are listing two or more of the same type of compound, you can omit the second part of the compound and replace it with a space or comma—in all but the final compound in the list.

 

We are shopping for a three- or four-bedroom house.

 

Submit a one- to two-page synopsis.

 

Five-, six-, seven-, and eight-year-old children meet in the blue classroom.

 

Yankee- and Mets-obsessed fans don’t always get along.

 

The sky was mottled with small clouds. The sun was not yet up, but some of their fluffy edges had caught his light, and hung out orange- and gold-coloured fringes upon the air.4

 

Use a hyphen with words that are meant to be read as a single word.

Some words are meant to be read as one word and should be hyphenated.

 

We got stopped at the US-Canada border.

 

Use a hyphen with fractions that are modifiers.

If you’re writing a fraction as an adjective or adverb, use a hyphen. If your fraction is a noun, it should not be hyphenated.

 

My one-fourth slice of the cake was huge. (adjective)

 

Melanie gave me one fourth of her cake. (noun)

 

Use a hyphen when writing out numbers twenty-one through ninety-nine, even when those numbers are part of larger numbers.

 

There were sixty-three people at the party.

 

The total votes counted came to three hundred and forty-two.

 

Use a hyphen when joining a number or letter to a word. Notice that the single letter is capitalized and is not part of an abbreviation.

 

He wore a blue T-shirt.

 

In the middle of the road, Mike did a U-turn.

 

“I will not watch that X-rated movie.”

 

They live in the A-frame house at the end of the street.

 

Shelby ran the 100-meter dash.

 

It’s a three-mile hike to the store.

 

I bought a fifty-cent stamp.

 

Jane is part of a 250-year legacy.

 

Using Hyphens with Prefixes

It’s tricky to know whether or not to use a hyphen with a prefix. Sometimes you do, and sometimes you don’t. Use a dictionary to check if you’re not sure.

 

My ex-husband is in prison.

 

I am a self-made man.

 

Billy Joel sang about an uptown girl.

 

I co-own that company.

 

We divorced but still manage to coexist peaceably.

 

We saw an off-Broadway show.

 

That offbeat music is driving me nuts.

 

Did you preview that movie too?

 

It’s a pre-war era gun.

 

Did you pick up the antibiotics for the baby?

 

Captain Jack Sparrow is a famous anti-hero.

 

You always use a hyphen, however, when joining a prefix to a proper noun (a capitalized word) or a date.

 

You are totally un-American.

 

That gown is pre-Georgian.

 

In Jerry Spinelli’s Stargirl, nearly the entire school participated in an anti-Stargirl shunning.

 

By the mid-1960s, NASA was well into the race to put a man on the moon.

 

We boarded the trans-American flight.

 

I don’t vacation until the post-game season.

 

Pre-1990, few people owned cell phones.