The Hyphen

What is a hyphen and how can you use it in your writing?

It is a punctuation mark that appears like this: -

You can use it in the following circumstances:

• Compound words and Phrases
• Prefixed words
• In writing or printing to indicate a split in a word

Now let us consider all of these circumstances in detail. By the time we are done, you will know how to use this little punctuation mark properly and correctly.

Compound words and Phrases

Compound words are words that are made from a combination of two or more words. Phrases are a group of words that form part of a sentence or clause and form one grammatical unit.Note that compound words are actually new words formed from the combination of words, whereas phrases are simply a group of words used together to give particular meaning.

In compound words, the combined words are separated by the little dash. Here are examples:

twenty-one
well-mannered
father-in-law
go-cart
Iron-rich
well-populated
non-stop

However, don't take this as a general rule. If you prefer, you may write most compound words without it. Here are some examples:

breakup
heartbreak
playground
earpiece

In fact, it is becoming a common practice to write compound words without this little fellow, especially where the combination is well known, or if the individual words are of one syllable as demonstrated above.

But of course, there are some compound words which should be hyphenated no matter what. This is especially so where the lack of this little guy could appear awkward. For example, some compound words could cause an awkward collision of letters if not hyphenated:

fire-eater (as opposed to 'fireeater')
fire-resistant (as opposed to 'fireresistant')
dim-out(as opposed to 'dimout')

When words in a phrase are arranged syntactically, they may be connected using the hyphen. A syntactic pattern is that in which the grouped words are arranged in a certain order to give a specific meaning. Leaving out this punctuation mark may alter the meaning. Check out these examples:

Large-faced people ( this means 'people with large faces' ,but 'large faced people' means 'large people with faces')
copper-seeking miners (this means 'miners who seek copper', but 'copper seeking people' means 'the copper is seeking the miners)

Groups of words used before a noun to indicate attribute are often hyphenated:

a well-populated area (yet, we would say: 'the area is well populated)
the badly-dressed man (but we would say: 'the man is badly dressed)

Prefixed Words

Prefixes are verbal elements added to the beginning of words to alter their meanings. Examples of prefixes are: re-, de-, anti-, un-, non-, ex-, etc.

While it is a common practice to leave out this punctuation mark in prefixed words, there are three circumstances in which it should be included.

First: where a capital letter follows the prefix, or where the prefix precedes a name:

anti-Christian
pre-Raphaelite

Second: to avoid confusion with another word:

pre-position (very different from prepostion)
re-form( different from reform)

Third: where the prefix ends in a vowel and precedes a word beginning with a vowel

re-enter('reenter' is allowed, but doesn't it look awkward?)
co-op
co-owner

sometimes, hyphens are inserted in lists to substitute a common element:

We may need a two-, three-, or foursome for the meeting tomorrow.

In writing or printing to indicate a split in a word

In printing, words often have to be spaced precisely to give a neat appearance. To achieve this, it may be necessary to split a word at the end of a line and continue it on the following line. The split is indicated by a hyphen. The rest of the word is written without a hyphen. For example, it the word I would like to split is neighbour, I would do it like this:

If you had to choose a "next-door neigh-
bor" for the earth, you could not improve on
the moon... (extract from Awake! magazine, February 2009)

Take care to split the word between syllables, or at least include at least two letters in each part of the split word:

Mr, Sores, please att-
ach the document. (not a-ttach)

In writing by hand, try to avoid this practice at all costs. It is not a necessary technique in writing that does not appear in print.

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