Hyphens: Joining Words Together

What are Hyphens?

Usually shorter than a dash, a hyphen () is a punctuation mark that joins two or more words. It should not be mistaken with a dash that separates words, phrases, and statements. Hyphens are helpful tools to use to improve your writing.

Hyphens help clear the meaning of a sentence. “She’s God loving” sounds like an incomplete sentence saying she is a god who loves. Make it understandable by inserting a hyphen between God and loving. Therefore, the resulting sentence “she’s Godloving” now conveys her God-loving attribute, not her God-level stature. In short, putting hyphens in the right places saves readers from confusion and makes your writing error-free. 

How to Use Hyphens

when to use a hyphen (-)

Here’s a quick guide to using hyphens:

1. Use a hyphen to connect compound modifiers that appear before the noun modified.

Compound modifiers consist of two words acting as one adjective. These words can be an adjective, noun, and participle (verb used as an adjective). 

  • The once beautiful-looking garden is now empty. [compound modifier: an adjective and a participle]
  • Her new-found friend helps her cope with anxiety. [compound modifier: an adjective and a participle]
  • We miss the pandemic-free yesteryears. [compound modifier: a noun and an adjective]
  • It was an eye-opening performance. [compound modifier: a noun and a participle]
  • He sleeps on a cotton-soft bed. [compound modifier: a noun and an adjective]

Notice that removing the hyphens in the above examples will make the sentences unclear. 

Confusing: He sleeps on a cotton soft bed. [This sounds like he sleeps on a type of mattress called “cotton soft” or a bed made of soft cotton.] 

Correct: He sleeps on a cotton-soft bed.
Correct: He sleeps on a bed that’s cotton soft. [Remove the hyphen if the modifier comes after the noun.]

NOTE: Don’t use a hyphen if the modifier consists of an adverb and a participle.

Wrong: Her newly-found restaurant serves eccentric food.
Correct: Her newly found restaurant serves eccentric food.

Also, don’t use a hyphen if the modifier consists of an adverb and an adjective.

Wrong: His excessively-strict parents didn’t allow him to join the trip.
Correct: His excessively strict parents didn’t allow him to join the trip.

2. Use hyphens with hyphenated compound words. 

Some of the hyphenated compound words are common in everyday speech, but it’s best to consult a dictionary to make sure you combine hyphens with the right words.

  • over-the-top
  • officer-in-charge
  • brother-in-law
  • long-term
  • far-flung
  • happy-go-lucky
  • well-to-do

3. Use a hyphen with spelled out fractions and with compound numbers from twenty-one to ninety-nine. 

  • Two-thirds of the class will attend the seminar. The other one third will be given a different activity. [Two-thirds is a compound adjective modifying class; third is a noun modified by a single adjective one, hence no hyphen is needed.] 
  •  We need to let go of fifty-three personnel. 

Related Reading: Semicolon – The Combination Punctuation

4. Use hyphens with compound modifiers containing numbers and fractions if they appear before the noun modified.

  • It’s just a 30-minute seminar. [can also be written as thirty-minute]
  • She lost a half-million dollars to a scam.
  • Christopher believes that careers are a twentieth-century invention.

5. In most words, use a hyphen with prefixes: Ex-; Self-; All-; Anti-; and Mid-

  • The ex-mayor left the country.
  • Working out requires a lot of self-discipline
  • Her policies are anti-poor.
  • We met in the mid-1960s
  • He believes in an all-knowing higher being.
  • Related Reading: Comma Use – Pause, Take a Break

Practice:

Insert a hyphen or hyphens in each sentence where necessary.

  1. Our ex principal’s lecture was self explanatory.
  2. She wrote a twenty two page report that we’re supposed to present in 30 minutes.
  3. A man eating crocodile lives in the nearby lake. 
  4. I need a two month paid vacation. 
  5. His well known friend owns a dog friendly restaurant.

Answers:

  1. Our ex-principal’s lecture was self-explanatory.
  2. She wrote a twenty-two-page report which we’re supposed to present in 30 minutes.
  3. A man-eating crocodile lives in the nearby lake. 
  4. I need a two-month paid vacation. 
  5. His well-known friend owns a dog-friendly restaurant.

Thank you for reading. We hope it’s effective! Always feel free to revisit this page if you ever have any questions about hyphens.

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Click here for the English Literature & Composition 2021 AP Exam Study Guide!