Why use hyphens

Rule 2a. A hyphen is frequently required when forming original compound verbs for vivid writing, humor, or special situations. Examples: The slacker video-gamed his way through life. Queen Victoria throne-sat for six decades.

Rule 2b. When writing out new, original, or unusual compound nouns, writers should hyphenate whenever doing so avoids confusion. Examples: I changed my diet and became a no-meater. No-meater is too confusing without the hyphen.

The slacker was a video gamer. Video gamer is clear without a hyphen, although some writers might prefer to hyphenate it. Writers using familiar compound verbs and nouns should consult a dictionary or look online to decide if these verbs and nouns should be hyphenated. Rule 3. An often overlooked rule for hyphens: The adverb very and adverbs ending in ly are not hyphenated.

Incorrect: the very-elegant watch Incorrect: the finely-tuned watch. This rule applies only to adverbs. The following two examples are correct because the ly words are not adverbs:. Correct: the friendly-looking dog Correct: a family-owned cafe. Rule 4. Hyphens are often used to tell the ages of people and things. A handy rule, whether writing about years, months, or any other period of time, is to use hyphens unless the period of time years, months, weeks, days is written in plural form:.

With hyphens: We have a two-year-old child. We have a two-year-old. No hyphens: The child is two years old. Because years is plural. Exception: The child is one year old. Or day, week, month , etc. Note that when hyphens are involved in expressing ages, two hyphens are required. Many writers forget the second hyphen:.

Rule 5. Never hesitate to add a hyphen if it solves a possible problem. Following are two examples of well-advised hyphens:. Confusing: Springfield has little town charm.

With hyphen: Springfield has little-town charm. Without the hyphen, the sentence seems to say that Springfield is a dreary place. With the hyphen, little-town becomes a compound adjective, making the writer's intention clear: Springfield is a charming small town. Confusing: She had a concealed weapons permit. With hyphen: She had a concealed-weapons permit. With no hyphen, we can only guess: Was the weapons permit hidden from sight, or was it a permit for concealed weapons?

The hyphen makes concealed-weapons a compound adjective, so the reader knows that the writer meant a permit for concealed weapons. Rule 6. When using numbers, hyphenate spans or estimates of time, distance, or other quantities. This page reflects guidance from the sixth edition of the Publication Manual. Go to 7th edition guidelines. In a temporary compound that is used as an adjective before a noun, use a hyphen if the term can be misread or if the term expresses a single thought i.

Most compound adjective rules are applicable only when the compound adjective precedes the term it modifies. Offices Find an office near you. About EF Who we are.

Careers Join the team. Resources for learning English. Test your English. Hyphens and dashes A hyphen joins two or more words together while a dash separates words into parenthetical statements. Hyphens Generally, hyphens are used to join two words or parts of words together while avoiding confusion or ambiguity.

Hyphens can be used to combine an adverb and adjective to describe a noun. In this situation, the adverb is describing the adjective, and the adjective is describing the noun. However, when the adverb ends with -ly, a hyphen should not be used.

It is not always necessary to use a hyphenated word. Sentences can be rearranged to avoid the need for a hyphen. If the adverb and adjective come after the noun being described, a hyphen is not needed.

Remember that using hyphens to combine adverbs and adjectives in this way creates a new word. The placement of hyphens can greatly change the meaning of a word, thus changing the entire sentence. Dashes are often used to mark interruptions within sentences and show relationships between words.

Em dashes are often used to mark interruptions within sentences. They can be used with or without spacing.

Em dashes are also used to indicate that a sentence is unfinished because the speaker has been interrupted.