Mastering the Use of Hyphens in Writing
Understand the nuances of hyphen usage, from joining words together to highlighting ages, times, names, and journeys. Learn when to use hyphens in numbers and how they play a crucial role in conveying precise meaning in your writing.
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Hyphens A hyphen is shorter than a dash and joins words together. There are no spaces between a hyphen and the words. twenty-five (not twenty five) Hyphens
When to use hyphens Hyphens
In numbers In numbers between 21 and 99 (but not 30, 40 etc) sixty-five seventy-eight one hundred and thirty-one six thousand, four hundred and ninety- three. Hyphens
Ages When a person s age is written before a noun, or instead of a noun I have a twelve-year-old son. My three-year-old ate all the chocolate. BUT: My son is twelve years old. Hyphens
Times When time is written before a noun, or instead of a noun I caught the twelve-o clock train. She had just missed the ten-o clock so caught the eleven-thirty instead. BUT: The class starts at twelve o clock. Hyphens
In names Surnames of two words (double barrelled) are usually linked with a hyphen. James Ponsonby-Smith Margaret Smith-Reynolds Some forenames are also commonly hyphenated. Mary-Jo, Lauren-May, Lisa-Marie Hyphens
Journeys A hyphen is put between two place names. I caught the Bristol-Bath train. The Heathrow-Bangkok flight has been delayed. He s using the Sheffield-Derby-Birmingham route. Hyphens
Insert hyphens (8) My ten year old daughter Mary Jo went to bed last night at 7 o clock. I had just finished reading page fifty two of Matilda. Her father, who was forty three years old, arrived half an hour later having missed the seven o clock train from Derby. He had caught the Sheffield Chesterfield train earlier in the day. His boss Miles Blenkins Jones was away at Wimbledon. Hyphens
Answers My ten-year-old daughter Mary-Jo went to bed last night at 7 o clock. I had just finished reading page fifty-two of Matilda. Her father, who was forty-three years old, arrived half an hour later having missed the seven-o clock train from Derby. He had caught the Sheffield-Chesterfield train earlier in the day. His boss Miles Blenkins-Jones was away at Wimbledon. Hyphens
Some prefixes 1. self- self-assured; self-catering; self-confident 2. ex- (meaning former) ex-boyfriend; ex-directory; ex-policeman 3. all- all-knowing; all-important; all-comers Hyphens
Prefixes with proper nouns or adjectives (note: they don t take a capital letter) My birthday is in mid-July. Although I am pro-Norwich City, strangely I am not anti-Ipswich Town! I caught the trans-Atlantic flight five hours ago. Hyphens
More prefixes Hyphens are often put between prefixes and words if the prefix ends with the same letter that the word starts with. re-examine semi-irate anti-ice cream Hyphens
Even more prefixes Hyphens are used to prevent confusion. Miss will need to re-mark our books. That was a silly remark. I need to re-cover the book. I need to recover the book from my messy bedroom. I will re-form the pot from the clay. He is a reformed character. Hyphens
To avoid difficult spellings Some words would be difficult to read without hyphens: De-ice (instead of de-ice) Co-worker (instead of coworker which starts with cow!) Shell-like (instead of shelllike with three l s) Hyphens
Insert hyphens (7) It was unusually cold for a late March morning so I had to deice the car. My coworker, Stella, who was also my ex wife, was late as she had skidded but just managed to recover the steering to avoid a crash. It was only last weekend I recovered the steering wheel in pink fur, she explained self consciously, I am not anti leather, I just like the warmth of fur. Hyphens
Answers It was unusually cold for a late-March morning so I had to de-ice the car. My co- worker, Stella, who was also my ex-wife, was late as she had skidded but just managed to recover the steering to avoid a crash. It was only last weekend I re-covered the steering wheel in pink fur, she explained self-consciously, I am not anti-leather, I just like the warmth of fur. Hyphens
Some suffixes 1. -based oil-based paint; Sheffield-based business 2. -elect president-elect 3. -free fat-free burger; interest-free loan; stress-free schoolwork 4. -style Attacking-style football; folk-style outfit; sixties-style haircut Hyphens
Spelling Hyphens are used to show that is word is being spelt out loud. S-I-L-E-N-C-E spells silence, thundered Mrs Gibbins. Stammering Hyphens are used to show stammering in speech. W-w-w-what next? enquired a frightened Helen. Hyphens
Compound adjectives Hyphens are used to glue certain words together especially before a noun. The stainless-steel cutlery needs washing. The sink was made of stainless steel. The brightly-lit road was flooded. The flooded road was brightly lit. The long-lasting flowers finally died. The flowers really had been long lasting. Hyphens
More examples Norwich s second-half goals were amazing. Norwich scored 4 goals in the second half. The well-cooked biscuits were thrown away. The biscuits were well cooked. She wore a full-length skirt. Her skirt was full length. He gobbled up the sweet-tasting cakes. The cakes he ate were all sweet tasting. Hyphens
More compound adjectives Some compound adjectives are hyphenated wherever they occur. His clothes were rather old-fashioned. He put on his old-fashioned clothes. They certainly enjoyed the thought-provoking lesson on hyphens. The enjoyable lesson on hyphens was certainly thought-provoking. Hyphens
Compound nouns Compound nouns can often be written in 3 different ways: play group play-group paper clip paper-clip playgroup paperclip You can use any of these but be consistent. Hyphens
Interestingly When a compound noun is first used, it is usually two words. Later it becomes hyphenated before eventually becoming one word. In the early days of the internet, people went on line. Later, as the term became more widely used, you went on-line. These days, millions go online. And so a new word is born into the English language. How exciting! Hyphens
Perhaps the most important advice about hyphens is to: Check with a dictionary. Hyphens
Compound nouns Some compound nouns are always hyphenated: father-in-law, sister-in-law etc T-shirt A-frame lay-by Hyphens
Insert Hyphens (11) Gavin scratched his shelllike ear as Miss Jenkin shouted, N O spells no! She was in a bad mood as her sister in law had visited with her six year old son Ben. Miss Jenkin s son, who was nine years old, had shut Ben in the old fashioned wooden shed which was not exactly spider free. H h help, Ben had stammered in panic. Miss Jenkins had opened the shed door which had recently been treated with a water based preservative. Hyphens
Answers Gavin scratched his shell-like ear as Miss Jenkin shouted, N-O spells no! She was in a bad mood as her sister-in-law had visited with her six-year-old son Ben. Miss Jenkin s son, who was nine years old, had shut Ben in the old-fashioned wooden shed which was not exactly spider-free. H-h-help, Ben had stammered in panic. Miss Jenkins had opened the shed door which had recently been treated with a water-based preservative. Hyphens
At the end of lines Hyphens are used at the end of a line when a long word is split in two. Word processors do this automatically. If you have to split a word yourself, make it easy to read. I ate my breakfast and got dressed think- ing about the match. I ate my breakfast and got dressed thin- king about the match. Hyphens
Change in meaning Some word clusters change meaning depending on where or if they are hyphenated. Think about these: six foot soldiers man eating monster heavy metal detector five pound notes high flying executive hot water bottle little used car wide angle lens twenty odd boys plastic toy salesman two year old girls well trained dog light green scarf slow moving film Hyphens
