What is the correct way to hyphen?
The Hyphen
- Use a hyphen at the end of a line to divide a word where there is not enough space for the whole word.
- Use a hyphen to indicate a word spelled out letter by letter.
- Use a hyphen to join two or more words to form compound adjectives that precede a noun.
- Use a hyphen to avoid awkward doubling of vowels.
Where does the hyphen go in this sentence?
Generally, you need the hyphen only if the two or more words are functioning together as an adjective before the noun they’re describing. If the noun comes first, leave the hyphen out. This wall is load bearing. It’s impossible to eat this cake because it is rock hard.
What is similar to a hyphen?
A dash is a little horizontal line that floats in the middle of a line of text (not at the bottom: that’s an underscore). It’s longer than a hyphen and is commonly used to indicate a range or a pause.
What is a hyphenated word examples?
Examples of Hyphenated Compound Words Open compound words include words such as coffee table, dining room, high school, ice cream, and peanut butter. There’s a space between these words, but both parts of the word are necessary.
Why is hyphen used?
Generally, hyphens are used to join two words or parts of words together while avoiding confusion or ambiguity. Consult your dictionary if you are not sure if a hyphen is required in a compound word, but remember that current usage may have shifted since your dictionary was published.
What is a long hyphen called?
The hyphen (-), the shortest of the three marks, is familiar (sometimes wretchedly so) to most writers. So is the em dash (—), more often called the long dash, or sometimes just the dash.
Why are dashes used in sentences?
Use dashes to set off an idea or an appositive within a sentence. A dash (—) is a punctuation mark used to set off an idea within a sentence and may be used alone or in pairs. Dashes interrupt a thought in a more dramatic way than a phrase enclosed in commas, but less theatrically than parentheses.
What are double hyphen used for?
Double dashes are used instead of commas (or parentheses) to interrupt a sentence. The phrase separated by dashes must be grammatically inessential, by which I simply mean that the sentence will still work without that phrase.
What are two hyphens together called?
An em dash is a punctuation mark that can be used to replace commas, parentheses, colons, and semicolons. In general, the em dash is seen as being more interruptive or striking than other punctuation, so it is often used stylistically to draw a reader’s attention to a particular bit of information.
What is an example of a closed compound with a hyphen?
For example, the closed compound “baseball” began with open styling as “base ball,” and for a time was styled with a hyphen as “base-ball.” Compound words can also change styling depending on their function; open compounds often get hyphenated when used to modify a noun, as in “science-fiction convention.”
What are the hyphen rules?
Hyphen Rules The hyphen( ‐ ) is a punctuation mark used to join words. It is often confused with dashes( –, —, ― ), which are longer and have different uses, and with the minus sign ( − ) which is also longer. Rule One: Most often, you will hyphenate between two or more adjectives when they come before a noun and act as a single idea.
Should compound words be hyphenated?
Compound words can also change styling depending on their function; open compounds often get hyphenated when used to modify a noun, as in “science-fiction convention.”
Is there a hyphen in best among those that are known?
The solution is the best among those that are know. Inclusion of the hyphen makes it clear that “best” is an adverb associated with “known” and not an adjective associated with “solution”, so that the meaning is clearly: the solution that is most widely known. Thank you for the clarification on hyphenated words.