42
votes
Accepted
What is the correct term "back-end", "back end" or "backend"?
I don't think you're going to be corrected or admonished for using any of these three. Google understands you perfectly no matter how you type it. Wikipedia features all three as well.
Personally, I'...
- 7,776
26
votes
What is the correct term "back-end", "back end" or "backend"?
You can
Spell it as back end when used as a noun, as for example "I am working on the back end of a project", and
Spell it as back-end when used as an adjective, as for example "The back-end ...
- 716
22
votes
Accepted
When can I hyphenate "in-place"?
Quick answer for general use:
hyphenation is for adjectives, not adverbs:
They sheltered in place. [no hyphen]
The dancers twirl in place. [no hyphen]
The in-place sheltering command was given at ...
- 49k
19
votes
Should a suspended hyphen be used for '10-to 15-year-olds'?
Yes, the hyphen should follow 10. In addition, a space should follow this hyphen, indicating that 10- is attached to year-..., not to to:
...the time spent by 10- to 15-year-olds on two activities
...
- 176k
17
votes
Accepted
"polluted-air-related disease" or "polluted air-related disease"?
Yes, it would be better with both hyphens, but you should take a moment to think "Is Grammarly trying to tell me this is badly written?"
If so, can I rephrase it? Long compound expressions ...
- 231k
16
votes
What is the correct term "back-end", "back end" or "backend"?
From the Microsoft Style Guide:
back end, back-end
Don't use if you can substitute a more specific term, such as server,
operating system, database, or network.
Two words as a noun. ...
- 261
16
votes
When do we add a hyphen (-) to a complex adjective word?
This is not a question of grammar, but of style. Writers use hyphens with compound adjectives to avoid ambiguity so that the reader does not have to read and re-read a sentence to garner the meaning ...
- 14.4k
14
votes
Accepted
"6-foot tall" or "6-feet tall"?
When a measurement is used right before the noun it measures, use a hyphen and the singular form of the unit of measurement:
I saw a 95-foot yacht in the harbor.
The 12-mile climb is too arduous ...
- 2,216
13
votes
Accepted
Is it correct to say "how-many-day a tour was it"?
"How many days was the tour" is the only option there that is correct.
I'd still definitely prefer to use "how long was the tour".
Edit: as Jack said, option 2 "How many days ...
- 957
13
votes
When should the prefix "non" be followed by a hyphen? Which is correct: "a non-polar molecule" or "a nonpolar molecule"?
Only speaking in terms of grammar, the prefix "non-" (with a hyphen) can come before any common noun or adjective.
If a proposed word like "nonred" doesn't appear in the dictionary,...
- 51.1k
11
votes
When do we add a hyphen (-) to a complex adjective word?
Robusto's answer is correct, I'm just adding another thought.
You asked:
Is this a case of people making a grammatical mistake or are both forms completely correct and it's just a matter of ...
- 6,163
10
votes
Should I use hyphens or quotation marks to modify a noun?
Neither is appropriate in a formal setting, such as an essay for school or a language test. You should paraphrase "a terrible hangover and I couldn't remember what I'd been doing the night ...
- 231k
9
votes
When should the prefix "non" be followed by a hyphen? Which is correct: "a non-polar molecule" or "a nonpolar molecule"?
Hyphenation is a typographical convention that is either a matter of editorial judgment or subject to particular style-guides.
If a word looks as though it could be confusing to some readers if it ...
- 137k
8
votes
Left handside, left hand side, left hand-side?
It's "left-hand side", the side nearest the left hand.
"Left hand" forms a compound adjective and so should be hyphenated.
- 7,147
8
votes
When should the prefix "non" be followed by a hyphen? Which is correct: "a non-polar molecule" or "a nonpolar molecule"?
Hyphenation is style dependent and not subject to hard-and-fast (or hard and fast) rules
For instance, the Australian Government Style Manual offers a practical approach to hyphen usage. They suggest, ...
- 1,534
6
votes
Accepted
Are words like "well-known" spelled with a hyphen in dictionaries?
There're no hard and fast rules whether or not we should hyphenate a compound adjective like well-known/well known. But it's far more common to hyphenate such adjectives if they are used as ...
- 27.3k
5
votes
Accepted
Hyphenation of adjectives composed of three words
The question begins:
Hyphenating an adjective composed of two words is, from what I understand, fairly straightforward: if the adjective is before the noun, it must be hyphenated ...
But this ...
- 41.4k
5
votes
Accepted
"End user" vs. "end-user" — correct usage of hyphen
Even native speakers might be confused which to use, so the answer is really "both can be correct". "End user" is such a relatively recent term that there is no "standard" way to write it. However ...
- 88.5k
5
votes
Accepted
Using hyphens between numbers and units before long and wide
I believe this is a style issue rather than a question of grammar. That is, different publishers may have different preferences for when to use a hyphen.
In the style I learned (for academic ...
- 10.4k
5
votes
Accepted
Can I write the word 'mother-in-law' as 'mother in law' or 'mother in-law'?
Not all compound nouns require hyphenation, however, "mother-in-law" does require hyphenation to avoid ambiguity.
Without hyphenation, it could mean that your mother works in the field of law:
I ...
- 111k
5
votes
Accepted
Should vertically carved have a hyphen?
The first example is incorrect.
A compound adjective is formed by two (or more) words that jointly describe a noun. Such adjectives are usually hyphenated so as to indicate that they form a single ...
- 444
5
votes
Why is it "Server Side Include" instead of "Server-Side Include"?
The hyphenated form is the one that is grammatically correct, but the hyphen is often omitted in casual contexts.
In the case of SSI, the form without the hyphen is simpler and cleaner, and these ...
- 1,753
5
votes
Accepted
Are noun+noun and noun's (aphostrope) + noun the same?
Both three weeks' holiday and a three-week holiday are possible. The hyphenated form acts like an adjective. "I live ten minutes' walk from the station" does not need a hyphen.
However, ...
- 61.4k
5
votes
Is it correct to say "how-many-day a tour was it"?
In general there are very few situations in English where we hyphenate more than two words. Here is a blog form Grammarly if you are interested but tl;dr hyphens are use if, when combining two words ...
- 94
5
votes
Accepted
What does the hyphen ("-") here mean?
The author is saying that the wholesale CDBC applications are driven by smart-contracts -- implying that the smart-contracts are integral to the working of these applications. The hyphen connects the ...
- 547
5
votes
Should "long-lasting" be hyphenated after a noun?
You'll find it both hyphenated and unhyphenated, depending on who's writing it. When I searched in COCA for long lasting . and long-lasting ., there were a significant number of hits for both, with 58 ...
- 15.9k
4
votes
Accepted
Do I need a hyphen in "1000-L bioreactor"? Hyphens with abbreviated units of measure
One of the keepers of the International System of Units is the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (Bureau international des poids et mesures). Its website says, among many other things:
.....
- 7,556
4
votes
Accepted
Subquestion or sub-question? (British English)
Hyphen usage changes all the time and it is largely a matter of style. I like the hyphen and would use sub-question in this case. See this BBC article: Small object of grammatical desire. Until you ...
- 6,526
4
votes
Are words like "well-known" spelled with a hyphen in dictionaries?
The general rule is that multiword descriptions using adverbs should not be hyphenated. As 'well' is an adverb, it should never be hyphenated in multiword descriptions.
However, if you consider 'well-...
- 41
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