Questions tagged [hyphens]
For questions about when and whether to use a hyphen (-) to join two words or two syllables of a single word together.
184
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Should centerpiece as an adverb be hyphenated center-piece? [closed]
Statues like this are rare, but they have five center-piece in their garden
The sentence means that there are 5 rare statues placed prominently in the center of the garden.
Should that be hyphenated ...
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3
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Consecutive open compound words - hyphenate?
How would you list consecutive open compound words?
I understand the usage of suspended hyphens in hyphenated, and closed compound words, like ground-, water-, and air-based or over- and underfed cats ...
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4
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When should the prefix "non" be followed by a hyphen? Which is correct: "a non-polar molecule" or "a nonpolar molecule"?
Which of the following is correct, (a) or (b)?
(a) "a non-polar molecule"; (b) "a nonpolar molecule"
("Nonpolar" is in the Merriam-Webster dictionary as an adjective, ...
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2
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"coffee making countries" vs. "coffee-making countries"?
The graph illustrates how much coffee was produced in four premier coffee making countries between 2011 and 2013.
Is a hyphen between "coffee" and "making" a must here? I'm ...
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Why do we not use hyphens in "school bus maintenance" or "furniture factory pay cut protest"?
Why do we not use hyphens in "school bus maintenance" or "furniture factory pay cut protest"?
"school bus" is a compound adjective so why not "school-bus"? ...
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6
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2
answers
796
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Should I use hyphens or quotation marks to modify a noun?
Should I use hyphens or quotation marks to modify a noun?
For example,
a what-did-I-do-last-night hangover
or
a "what did I do last night" hangover
Which one is/are correct? Is there any ...
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2
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1
answer
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Is "study abroad program" correct?
Is "study abroad program" correct? For me, in this phrase, "study" is a noun, "abroad" is an adverb, and "program" is a noun, so it doesn't make sense that ...
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Hyphenation of "trial and error"
Students learn by trial and error.
Students learn by trial-and-error.
Should "trial and error" be hyphenated or not in the above sentence? What is the rule here? I have seen both usages.
user167764
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Sword-fighting, sword fighting, or swordfighting?
Silly question, but which spelling is correct here? Like, say, "sword-fighting scenes" or "swordfighting scenes" or "sword fighting scenes".
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How to say that a shirt is similar to a linen shirt? Does linen-like or linen-look work?
I want to say that someone wears shirts similar to linen shirts.
Would "He was always wearing a linen-like shirt/linen-look shirt" be correct? Which option is more common, if they are ...
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Is an hyphen needed?
The two-word expression originary interest does not need to be hyphenated.
However, should the four-word expression individual originary interest rate be hyphenated somewhere?
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How should one hyphenate this situation?
The central bank interest rate is too high.
The central-bank interest rate is too high.
The central-bank interest-rate is too high.
Which of the above alternatives do you think is correct and why?
...
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0
answers
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Singe or double hyphen?
Is it better to write
foreign-currency-denominated bonds
or
foreign currency-denominated bonds?
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6
votes
2
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"polluted-air-related disease" or "polluted air-related disease"?
The exhaust produced by the automobile increases the rate of polluted-air-related diseases.
That's my original sentence. Grammarly changed it into "polluted air-related diseases". I think ...
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Is the adj. "individual-traveler-friendly" correct？
When I was writing an essay, I wanted to write that traveling without a tour guide is friendly to individual travelers because it conduces to a flexible schedule. A phrase "dog-friendly hotel&...
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Using a hyphen in a sentence
I typed the following sentence for grammar checking:
It seems I am quite close, but the errors are time consuming to resolve sometimes.
It converted it to:
It seems I am quite close, but the errors ...
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Must I hyphenate "commonly-followed economic indicators"?
commonly followed economic indicators
commonly-followed economic indicators
Must I hyphenate between "commonly" and "followed"? Why? Thank you.
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"applying in person" vs. "applying in-person"
Does one write "applying in person" or "applying in-person" (with the hyphen)?
Example:
When applying in person for this job, can one bring one's dog?
What I've found so far:
...
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0
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more adjectives or characteristics of something with hyphens
I want to know if there's a rule that I could use to form words with hyphens, which generally give a characteristic for something.
Ex:
a know-it-all person.
a story-driven videogame.
a two-faced ...
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3
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Should "long-lasting" be hyphenated after a noun? [closed]
I understand that when "long-lasting" is used as a compound adjective before a noun, it is always hyphenated, as in example 1:
A long-lasting transformation.
However, I would like to know ...
user167211
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1
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Which is correct and idiomatic, "irregular-verb appearance", "appearance of irregular verbs", or "irregular verbal appearance"?
Which is the most correct and idiomatic? I think that 1. and 2. are pretty correct and idiomatic, but 3. is just erroneous.
The irregular-verb appearance is very interesting.
The appearance of ...
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1
answer
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Please help; this is giving me an ulcer -walled, -wall, or no wall at all?
Okay, so I'm editing a book on architecture that's as poorly written as it is dry. My biggest issue right now is the use of the word "walled"; do you think this needs to be rewritten as ...
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2
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Which preposition to use when two years are separated by a hyphen?
The implementation of socialism in the Soviet Union caused a famine in
1930. (1)
The implementation of socialism in the Soviet Union caused a famine in
1930-1933. (2)
I know that sentence (1) is ...
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259
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Should I use a hyphen?
Should a hyphen be used for "cost efficiency" in the below examples? Thank you.
the cost-efficiency targets
a cost-efficiency program
user163195
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1
answer
577
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"time series" vs. "time-series" [closed]
When "time series" is used as a noun, is a hyphen needed?
a time-series versus a time series
PS: I feel that when "time series" is used as an adjective (see below), a hyphen is ...
user161917
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0
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Stick-On Curtains or Stick-on Curtains [duplicate]
If the title of an article is about stick on curtains, should the title be "Stick-On Curtains" or "Stick-on Curtains"? In other words, should "o" in "stick-on" ...
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miserable-looking
a. I saw a sick and miserable looking boy standing at the corner of the street.
b. I saw a sick and miserable-looking boy standing at the corner of the street.
The question is whether the boy was
...
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3
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Hyphenate “communicating”: communi-cating or communic-ating?
The online hyphenator https://www.ushuaia.pl/hyphen/?ln=en provides different hyphenations of the word communicating depending on the variant of English: according to that program (which needn't be ...
user142975
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2
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879
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Hyphens or no hyphens in well(-)thought(-)through?
Which of the following is the correct form?
well thought through
well thought-through
well-thought-through
I've tried googling, and all three seem to occur to quite some extent, but does that mean ...
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57
views
What type of dash is in “Bo01 - City of Tomorrow”?
Is the short line in “Bo01 - City of Tomorrow” supposed to be a hyphen, en dash, or em dash?
Also, is the line following "2001" used correctly?
Malmö has long been renowned as a pioneer in ...
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Cardboard cut out, cutout or cut-out?
I couldn't find an agreement online on which form of "cut out" is the most correct as a noun.
It would be interesting to know about any British English and U.S. English distinction as well.
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Hyphen usage with with multiple compound adjectives separated by or/and
I have the following question. I have a structure like this:
dark-looking or sinister-looking
Can I write it like this:
dark- or sinister-looking
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Does "Yet-not-something" exist? [closed]
I was writing a text and started thinking if this grammar construction exists: "yet-not-something".
The phrase I was trying to write is:
It is expected the operations start by May and, by ...
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What does the hyphen ("-") here mean?
Today, when reading Lannquist,2020, p.7, I saw the second hyphen "-" but I do not understand what the author wants to imply.
“smart‑contract”‑driven wholesale CBDC applications
(e.g. “...
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"number one way" hyphen
The number (-) one way to make someone less stressed is to appreciate them and their struggle, support them no matter what, and share your experience of dealing with a similar problem.
Should there ...
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Where is the noun in this sentence
Where is the noun in this sentence.
You'll be really well rewarded in this job.
The reason why I wanna know that is because of this sentence “ That's right! The first adjective is an 'adverb + past ...
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Is it correct to say "how-many-day a tour was it"?
How-many-day a tour was it?
How many days was the tour?
How many days of tour were you on?
How-many-day tour of Cambridge were you on?
Are the above sentences grammatically correct?
I understand ...
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Pre-school or preschool?
When I check my various dictionaries (Longman; Cambridge; Merriam-Webster and a bilingual dictionary), preschool is spelt without a hyphen. Still, when I google it, I get a fair number of hits for ...
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Ant-keeping? Or Antkeeping?
Up until now I was under the impression that hyphens are very rare in the English language. At least when it comes down to compounds. (This is different from my native language, where it is rather ...
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Is it (patho)physiological, (patho-)physiological or (patho)-physiological? [closed]
I'm not sure what the correct usage of hyphens is if they are used to provide a word alternative.
Example: These are released from cells under certain (patho)physiological conditions.
Bonus question: ...
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hyphen after an open compund noun for a hierarchical two-level compund noun
EDIT: The sentence is what I would consider a minimum working example and is originally followed by some subordinate clause. I am not looking to simply reduce word count but to improve intelligibility ...
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Are noun+noun and noun's (aphostrope) + noun the same?
First, please see these examples:
Noun+noun:
a three-hour journey
a ten-pound note
a four-week course
noun + 's + noun:
I've got a week's holiday starting on Monday.
Julia has got three weeks' ...
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Modern day vs modern-day in a sentence
I'm preparing for academic IELTS by writing some essays and then correcting those using a grammar correction app.
In the following sentence,
...as opposed to the modern day where the numbers are more ...
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What are the rules for capitalizing the second part of a hyphenated word in a title?
I would assume that it both parts of the hyphenated word would be capitalized in a standard example (e.g. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler). However, I noticed in my piano book, it ...
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1
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Hyphen usage with 'off-limits'/'off limits'
I have seen both 'off-limits' and 'off limits' used in the same context. A thing that is off(-)limits is forbidden to be used or otherwise restricted to only some people's usage from my understanding.
...
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Can I use the combination "multi-adjective+noun"?
I'd like to learn if I can use the combination "multi-adjective+noun" to form an adjective.
Examples;
This is a multi-rigid-body analysis.
(I mean that this analysis has more than one ...
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How do we capitalize a hyphenated adjective which starts with an abbrevation in the beginning of a sentence?
I am really confused right now and I can't seem to find a straight answer to this question.
I was writing an essay and I am stumped on the correct capitalization when it came to starting a sentence ...
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1
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"A well Oxford-educated politician" OR "A well-Oxford-educated politician"?
I saw many examples like "He is an Oxford-educated politician" and I'm curious about the usage of hyphens here by adding "well" in the front.
Is it
"He is a well-Oxford-...
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A question about the word repellent
which one is correct? Rub some of this mosquito repellent on your legs or Rub some of this mosquito-repellent on your legs. I think the first one is correct. However, I have seen the second one in ...
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How should an „anti-human trafficking operation“ be hyphenated?
How should an „anti-human trafficking operation“ be hyphenated? I recently saw this expression in a newspaper article, with a hyphen between „anti“ and „human“. It took me some time to figure out that ...
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