Generally, you need the hyphen only if the two words are functioning together as an adjective before the noun they’re describing. If the noun comes first, leave the hyphen out.
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When should a hyphen be used?
Generally, hyphenate two or more words when they come before a noun they modify and act as a single idea. This is called a compound adjective. When a compound adjective follows a noun, a hyphen is usually not necessary.
What are some examples of hyphenated words?
Examples of hyphenated compound words include:
- two-fold.
- check-in.
- merry-go-round.
- father-in-law.
- seventy-two.
- long-term.
- up-to-date.
- mother-in-law.
What are the four hyphen rules?
Using hyphens with prefixes
- Hyphenate prefixes before proper nouns.
- Use a hyphen with most words that begin with the prefix self-.
- Use a hyphen with words that begin with the prefix ex-.
- Use a hyphen with most words that begin with the prefix non-.
- Use a hyphen when the prefix ends in the same letter the word begins.
Do you capitalize word after hyphen?
For hyphenated compounds, it recommends: Always capitalize the first element. Capitalize any subsequent elements unless they are articles, prepositions, coordinating conjunctions (and, but, for, or, nor), or such modifiers as flat or sharp following musical key symbols.
Do you capitalize after hyphen?
Capitalize only the first element of a hyphenated word unless any subsequent element is a proper noun or adjective.If the first element is merely a prefix or combining form that could not stand by itself as a word (anti, pre, etc.), do not capitalize the second element unless it is a proper noun or proper adjective.
Should daughter in law be hyphenated?
the hyphenated form, such as daughter-in-law, master-at-arms, over-the-counter, six-pack, six-year-old, mass-produced; and the open form, such as post office, real estate, middle class, full moon, half sister, attorney general.
Should top 10 be hyphenated?
Only hyphenate a construction like “top 10″ if it’s lowercase and directly modifying a noun, like “he’s a top-10 quarterback.” Otherwise, it’s “He’s one of the top 10 quarterbacks in the league.” If it follows the article “a,” that’s a good indication you need to hyphenate.
What do you call hyphenated words?
Compound words can be written in three ways: as open compounds (spelled as two words, e.g., ice cream), closed compounds (joined to form a single word, e.g., doorknob), or hyphenated compounds (two words joined by a hyphen, e.g., long-term).
Do you hyphenate verbs?
Phrases that have verb, noun, and adjective forms should appear as separate words when used as verbs and as one word when used as nouns or adjectives. Rule Five: Compound verbs are either hyphenated or appear as one word. If you do not find the verb in the dictionary, hyphenate it.
Is gently used hyphenated?
The adverb “very” and adverbs ending in “-ly” are not hyphenated.An adverb is defined as: a word or phrase that modifies or qualifies an adjective, verb, or other adverb or a word group, expressing a relation of place, time, circumstance, manner, cause, or degree (e.g., gently, quite, then, there).
Should Eye Opening be hyphenated?
Does “eye opening” in the following sentence need a hyphen? It was an eye opening experience. Yes. I suppose an exception would be if your optometrist introduced you to the experience of opening your eyes in a new way.
How do you use a hyphen in an essay?
Here’s the short version:
- Hyphens are punctuation marks used to link multiple words.
- Use a hyphen to join words together to avoid ambiguity.
- Use a hyphen when two or more words act as a single adjective before a noun.
- Hyphenate spelled-out numbers between 21 and 99 (twenty-one, ninety-nine).
How do you put a hyphen in the middle of a sentence?
Use a dash to show a pause or break in meaning in the middle of a sentence:
- My brothers—Richard and John—are visiting Hanoi. (Could use commas.)
- In the 15th century—when of course nobody had electricity—water was often pumped by hand. (Could use brackets.)
How do you use dashes and hyphens?
The dash is often used after an independent clause. The hyphen, on the other hand, is used to join two words together like yellow-green. It usually does not have a space between the words. Also, the dash tends to be slightly longer than the hyphen, and usually would have spaces before and after the symbol.
Do you capitalize with?
Capitalizing “With” in Chicago and MLA Styles
According to the Chicago Manual of Style and MLA style guide the word “with” should always be lowercase in a title unless it is the first or last word in a sentence. This is because “with” is a preposition with four letters which means it should be lowercase.
Do hyphenated words count as one word?
The reason is quite simple—the generally accepted rule is that a compound word is always treated as a single word. For instance, the compound adjective “real-time” is a different word than “real time.”So, once compound words are closed or hyphenated, they are counted as one word.
How do you capitalize in between?
According to The Chicago Manual of Style (8.157), a long preposition, such as between, should be written in lowercase. However, some style guides allow words that are longer than five letters to be capitalized (such as the style guide of the Associated Press).
Do you capitalize after three periods?
No capital. Three dots and a period (four dots) mean the first half is a complete sentence. Capital. In a case with fragments like this, you could go either way.
Do you use caps after a colon?
Capitalization: First Word After a Colon
In British English, the first letter after a colon is capitalized only if it’s a proper noun or an acronym; in American English, the first word after a colon is sometimes capitalized if it begins a complete sentence.
Is Hyphen a punctuation mark?
A hyphen (-) is a punctuation mark that’s used to join words or parts of words. It’s not interchangeable with other types of dashes. Use a hyphen in a compound modifier when the modifier comes before the word it’s modifying.