Two word adjective hyphen

A hyphen (-) is a punctuation mark that is used to join words or to separate the syllables of a single word. It’s not like a simple dash or something. It is usually used with a compound modifier when the modifier comes before the word it’s modifying. If you don’t know what compound modifier is then let me tell you it is a compound of two or more attributive words: that is, two or more words that collectively modify a noun.

Let’s a Hyphens’ main purpose is to glue words together. They notify the reader that two or more elements in a sentence are linked. Although there are rules and customs governing hyphens, there are also situations when writers must decide whether to add them for clarity.

Hyphens’ main objective is to glue all the words together and to make the reader understand that how elements are linked in a sentence. People tend to use it wrongly most of the times, for this purpose let’s see some of the simple rules for suing a Hyphen.

1. Hyphen with Two-Word Adjectives before Nouns

Using hyphens to connect words is easy but choosing the appropriate words which makes sense is difficult. A compound modifier is made up of two words that work together to act like an adjective so when you connect it through a hyphen it makes a sense to the readers as a one unit meaning.

Examples:

• Don’t take down any load-bearing walls when renovating.
• This rock-hard cake is absolutely impossible to eat.

So, generally hyphen is used when two words are functioning together as an adjective before the noun. If the noun comes first then leave the hyphen out.

So, you don’t need a hyphen in the following:

Examples:

• This wall is load bearing.
• It’s impossible to eat this cake because it is rock hard.

Plus there is one more thing, you also don’t need a hyphen when your modifier is made up of an adverb and an adjective.

• Do you expect me to believe this clearly-impossible story? (Incorrect)

Do you expect me to believe this clearly impossible story? (Correct)

2. Hyphens with Participles

When we combine a noun or adjective and a present participle to form a unit of meaning that describes another word, use a hyphen to make that unit of meaning clear.

Examples:

• There are some beautiful looking flowers in the garden. (Incorrect)

There are some beautiful-looking flowers in the garden. (Correct)

• Fast-acting medication can be useful when one has a headache. (Incorrect, because don’t use a hyphen when the modifier comes after the noun its describing).

This medication is fast acting. (Correct)

• The room was like a heavily-decorated chocolate box. (Incorrect, don’t use a hyphen when you are combining an adverb and a participle.

The room was like a heavily decorated chocolate box. (Correct)

3. Hyphen in a Compound Expression With a Noun and Past Participle

Compound modifiers that contain a past participle also follow the same rules as any other compound modifier. Use a hyphen when the compound goes before the verb it modifies:

Examples:

• The municipal government is funding a community-based education system.
• Wind-powered generators can be excellent sources of electricity.
• Many veterinarians find meat-fed cats to be quite healthy.
• A well-known local singer will perform tonight.

Remember one more thing, that don’t use a hyphen when the compound comes after the noun it describes.

Examples:

• The singer performing tonight is well known.

1. Hyphenated Compound Words

Hyphenated compound words are the ones with a hyphen between the words. Over time, many hyphenated compounds become closed compounds like teen-ager became teenager for instance. Check a dictionary if you are not sure whether to use a hyphen or not. Here are a few examples of common hyphenated compound words:

Examples:

• Father-in-law
• Master-at-arms
• Editor-in-chief-
• Ten-year-old
• Factory-made
• Seven-pack

1. Closed Compound Words

Hyphenated words will, in general, become the closed compound words (single words without any hyphens) after some time. Email rather than e-mail, for instance, is progressively normal. On the off chance that you aren’t sure whether a word is a closed compound or a hyphenated one.

Examples:

• Notebook
• Superman
• Waistcoat
• Bookstore
• Fireman

1. Open Compound Words

Open compounds are normally comprised of two nouns that are utilized together to speak to a solitary thought. “Open” implies that there is a space between the two words and no hyphen. A decent word reference is the best place to check whether a compound is open or not.

Examples:

• Living room
• Real estate
• Dinner table
• Coffee mug

7. Hyphens and Numbers

Numbers between twenty-one and ninety-nine should be hyphenated when they are spelled out as it is one of the followed rules.

Examples:

• Fifty-six bottles of pop on the wall, fifty-six bottles of cold drink, etc.
• No, I won’t party “like it’s nineteen ninety-nine.”
• I’ve got a hundred and twenty-two of these gizmos to sell.

8.  Hyphen in Compound Adjective with Numbers

At the point when numbers are utilized as the initial segment of a compound descriptive word, utilize a hyphen to interface them to the thing that tails them. Along these lines, the perusers realizes that the two words work like a unit to adjust another thing. This applies whether the number is composed in words or in digits. When numbers are used as the first part of a compound adjective, use a hyphen to connect them to the noun that follows them. This way, the reader knows that both words function like a unit to modify another noun. This applies whether the number is written in words or in digits.

Examples:

• The president of the company gave a 10-minute speech to the Board of Directors.
• He is knowledgeable in thirteenth-century politics.
• The boy threw a rock at the second-story window.

However, a hyphen is not required if the number is the second word in the compound adjective.

Examples:

• He is a victim of Type 2 diabetes.
• This elevator doesn’t go down to Basement 3.
• The president of the company gave a 10-minute speech to the Board of Directors.
• He is knowledgeable in thirteenth-century politics.
• The boy threw a rock at the second-story window.

However, a hyphen is not required if the number is the second word in the compound adjective.

Examples:

• He is a victim of Type 2 diabetes.
• This elevator doesn’t go down to Basement 3.

9. Hyphen in Compound Adjective with Fractions

When using a fraction (e.g. half or quarter) as part of a compound adjective, it should be hyphenated so the reader understands which fraction is modifying which noun.

Examples:

• I half-wanted to commit a felony.
• A quarter-million dollars is still a large amount of money.
• You’ll need one-third of a pound of flour and one egg.
• That’s a half-baked idea if I ever heard one!
• I half-wanted to commit a suicide.
• A quarter-million dollars is still a large amount of money.
• You’ll need one-third of a pound of flour and one egg.

10. Hyphen with Prefixes: Ex-, Self-, All-

Use a hyphen with the prefix ex- (meaning former).

Examples:

• Don’t sit Adam next to Martha! She’s his ex-wife!
• Though he no longer held an official position, the ex-mayor still attended all the town’s functions.

Use a hyphen with the reflexive prefix self-.

Examples:

• Lying on the floor beside the plant he had knocked over and chewed on, the cat looked extremely self-satisfied.
• Do you want a self-serve or a full-serve gas station?

Make sure you don’t confuse the prefix self- with the noun self.

Examples:

• The self serves no other.
• When using all as a prefix, add a hyphen.
• It’s a bad leader who thinks of himself as all-powerful.

When using high or low as part of a compound adjective, use a hyphen when the compound comes before the noun it’s modifying. Some examples of compound adjectives using high and low include high-level/low-level and high-impact/low-impact

Examples:

• Low-flying airplanes contribute to the noise pollution in the area.
• This car runs best on high-octane gasoline.
• Low-income families often face more stress than their higher-income counterparts.
• A high-interest savings account is one of the best ways to save money.

Sort out these pain-in-the-butt adjective rules once and for all!

Hyphens. Such a tiny punctuation mark, yet hyphens can confound ESL students and L1 speakers alike. Don’t let these little dashes scare you—the rules for their use within multiple‑word adjectives are actually quite simple. It’s just a matter of placement within a sentence. Follow the rules below to achieve hyphenated-adjective perfection!

Rule #1

Use Hyphens Before Nouns

If the multiple‑word adjective comes before a noun, use hyphens. Examples:

• She gave me an up-to-date report.
• We used computer-generated images in our presentation.
• After the reading exercise, answer these follow-up questions.

This rule is especially common with TIME, MONEY, and DISTANCE. Note that adjectives never take an “s.” Examples:

• We have a five‑minute break in our morning class. (NOT five‑minutes break)
• The clerk handed me a 100‑dollar bill.
• I went for a 20‑kilometer run this morning.

What about using adverbs and adjectives together? Be careful here. Most adverb/adjective combinations will NOT be hyphenated. One common exception is with the adverb well. Examples:

• Lady Gaga is a very famous singer. (NOT very‑famous singer)
• It’s an environmentally friendly product. (NOT environmentally‑friendly)
• J.R.R. Tolkien is a well‑known author. (This is the exception.)

Rule #2

Don’t Use Hyphens After Verbs

When the multiple‑word adjective (or phrase involving a quantifier or adjective + noun) comes after the main verb (or is the main verb), do NOT use hyphens. Let’s take a look at the previous examples:

• Her report was up to date.
• The images in our presentation were computer generated.
• We followed up the reading exercise with comprehension questions.
• Our morning class break is five minutes. (Note: Now that we don’t need a hyphen, we must follow the normal rules for forming the plural, so we need to use an “s.”)
• The clerk handed me 100 dollars.
• I ran for 20 kilometers this morning.
• J.R.R. Tolkien is well known.

Conclusion

Use hyphens if the multiple‑word adjective comes before a noun, otherwise don’t use hyphens. Are there exceptions? Unfortunately, there are always exceptions. For example, the adjective good-looking is always hyphenated, no matter the position in the sentence. (A good-looking guy waved at me this morning. / He is good-looking.) However, I’d say that this rule works over 90% of the time.

I hope this blog post helped clarify this well‑known problem!

Tanya

What’s a hyphen? Is it like a dash? A hyphen vs a dash is a punctuation mark that we use to join words or part of words. It looks like this: -. It is like a dash, and lots of people confuse them. But, a dash is used to separate words. And, a dash has spaces around it; a hyphen doesn’t. Today, we’re looking at how to use hyphens in English, so let’s begin. 

Hyphens with two-word adjectives
Hyphens with high and low
Hyphens with numbers
Hyphens with present and past participle
Hyphens with compound words in English
Hyphens vs dashes

Hyphens with two-word adjectives

We use hyphens to join two-word adjectives before nouns. We call these compound modifiers and we use them when two words come together to make one adjective. We only use hyphens when the adjectives come before the noun. If they come after the noun, we don’t need a hyphen. 

Be careful! 

If you’re using an adverb plus an adjective to describe something, you don’t need to use a hyphen. 

It was a ridiculously hot day. 
That’s a reasonably priced car.

Hyphens with high and low

We often use high- and low- to form compound adjectives. These words should be followed by a hyphen. 

He’s a very high-energy child. 
This is low-income housing. 
That’s a high-quality jacket. 

But, if the compound adjective comes after the noun, it doesn’t need a hyphen. 

This jacket is high quality. 

Hyphens with numbers

If we use a number and an adjective to form a two-word adjective, we also need to use a hyphen. This is true when the number is the first part of the adjective, and when the adjective comes before the noun. 

A four-sided shape
A one-person ride
A seventeenth-century painting

We use hyphens when we write the numbers from twenty-one to ninety-nine. 

I bought seventy-three bars of chocolate. 
Were you born in nineteen eighty-seven?

It must be about two hundred and thirty-four degrees there. 

When we use fractions as part of a compound adjective, for example, half or third, we use hyphens. 

It was a half-baked idea. 
She gave me one-third of her money.
Three-quarters of voters want the President to resign. 

Hyphens with present and past participle

We use hyphens when we combine a noun or adjective with a present participle to form a describing word. A present participle is a word ending -ing. For example:

That’s a gorgeous-smelling perfume.
He’s a hungry-looking crocodile. 

We also use hyphens when we combine a noun and a past participle to form a describing term. A past participle is the third form of the verb, and regular ones end in -ed. 

It’s a family-owned hotel. 
It’s a community-run project. 

Hyphens with compound words in English

Compound words are made when two words form another. Sometimes they have a hyphen, and sometimes they don’t. The best place to check this is in a dictionary. There are three types of compound words: open, closed and hyphenated. 

Open compound words remain as two words: 

• hot dog
• peanut butter
• ice cream

Closed compound words do not have a space or a hyphen between them: 

• firefighter
• railway
• snowball

Hyphenated compound words have a hyphen between them: 

• father-in-law
• check-in
• over-the-counter

These words can change over time. The word well-being, as in “The well-being of employees is important to a company”, has a hyphen in most dictionaries. But, it is often written as wellbeing now, even by large companies and in academic articles. E-mail becoming email is another example. Whoever said English was hard to learn?!

Hyphens with prefixes and suffixes

Prefixes and suffixes are not usually hyphenated. But, some common prefixes we use hyphens with are ex-, all- and self-, and the suffixes -elect and -free. 

My ex-boyfriend is married with four children now. 
It’s an all-encompassing look at the life of a great man. 
A little bit of self-reflection would be good for you. 
The President-elect is giving a speech. 
It’s a sugar-free drink. 

Using hyphens for clarity

Sometimes, we use a hyphen to make sure the meaning of something is clear, or to make a word easier to read. 

There is a big difference between these two sentences: 

Are you going to resign from your job?
Are you going to re-sign your contract? 

In the second sentence, the hyphen makes it clear that the meaning is sign again, and not quit like in the first sentence.

We also do this when there is an awkward combination of letters: 

I think we should re-elect the Chairwoman. 
He lives semi-independently. 

Some of these rules about hyphens are hard and fast: you shouldn’t mess with them! But some, like with compound words, are changing and the best place to check if you’re not sure how to use a hyphen is a good old (online) dictionary. 

Hyphens vs dashes

A dash (also called em dash) is used to express parenthetical statements in informal writing. You use them in the same way as you’d use brackets. The dash is meant to emphasize your sentence.
Sometimes, a dash can also replace commas or colons

John is taking his kids (all 4 of them) to school.
John is taking his kids — all 4 of them — to school.