A ( '''‐''' ) is a Punctuation mark. It is used both to join Word s and to separate Syllable s. It is often confused with the Dashes ( '''–''', '''—''', '''―''' ), which are longer and have different functions. The use of hyphens is called ''Hyphenation''.
A definitive collection of hyphen rules does not exist. Therefore, the writer or editor should consult a Manual Of Style or Dictionary of his or her preference, particularly for the country in which he or she is writing. The rules of style that apply to dashes and hyphens have evolved to support ease of reading in complex constructions; editors often accept deviations from them that will support, rather than hinder, ease of reading.
Texts may be automatically hyphenated via Hyphenation Algorithm s; when employed in concert with dictionaries, such hyphenation is sufficient for most informal texts.
- Spaces should not be placed between a hyphen and either of the words it connects except when using a suspended hyphen (e.g. ''nineteenth- and twentieth-century writers''—see below).
- Except for noun– Noun and Adverb –adjective Compound Modifier s, when a compound modifier appears ''before'' a term, the compound modifier is generally hyphenated to prevent any possible misunderstanding, such as ''American-football player''. Without the hyphen, there is potential confusion about whether ''American'' applies to ''football'' or ''player''. Compound modifiers can extend to three or more words, as in ''ice-cream-flavored candy''.
- Hyphens are generally ''not'' used in noun–noun or adverb–adjective compound modifiers when no such confusion is possible; for example:
- --- ''government standards organization'' and ''department store manager''
- --- ''wholly owned subsidiary'' and ''quickly moving vehicle'' (because the adverbs clearly modify the verbs; ''quickly'' obviously does not apply to ''vehicle'' as ''quickly vehicle'' would be meaningless).
- However, the hyphen joining the adverb ''more'' and the adjective ''important'' in the phrase ''more-important reasons'' distinguishes that phrase from ''more important reasons'', where ''more'' is an adjective. A Mass-noun example is the following: ''more-beautiful scenery'' as distinct from ''more beautiful scenery''.
- Hyphenation is also common with adjective–noun compound modifiers but, arguably, less generally. Examples are ''real-world example'' and ''left-handed catch''. Where the adjective–noun phrase would be plural standing alone, it usually becomes singular and hyphenated when modifying another noun. For example, ''four days'' becomes ''four-day week''.
- Two-word names of numbers less than one hundred are hyphenated. For instance, the number ''23'' should be written ''twenty-three'', and ''123'' should be written ''one hundred and twenty-three''. (The ''and'' is sometimes omitted in America)
- Hyphens are occasionally used to denote Syllabification , as in ''syl-lab-i-fi-ca-tion''. Most American dictionaries use an Interpunct , sometimes called a "middle dot" or "hyphenation point", for this purpose, as in ''syl·lab·i·fi·ca·tion''. Similarly, hyphens may be used to imply the spelling of a word, such as "W-O-R-D spells word."
- Hyphens are sometimes used in English to denote syllable breaks, particularly for prefixes, as when a (repeated) vowel is pronounced on its own rather than being silent or merged in a Diphthong , as in 'shell-like' and 'anti-intellectual', where some other languages (and some English authorities) use a Diaeresis like 'noël'. In British English , hyphens are also occasionally employed where readers would otherwise be tempted into a mispronunciation (e.g. ''co-worker'' is so punctuated partly to prevent the reader's eye being caught automatically by the word ''cow''—though see also the following note on prefixes).
- Certain prefixes (''co-'', ''pre-'', ''mid-'', ''de-'', ''non-'', ''anti-'', etc.) are often hyphenated, though usage varies between American and British English. British English tends towards hyphenation (''pre-school'', ''co-worker'') whereas American English tends towards omission of the hyphen (''preschool'', ''coworker''). A hyphen is mandatory when a prefix is applied to a proper (capitalized) adjective (''un-American''). The AP Stylebook provides further information on the use of "co-" as a prefix.
- Some words are hyphenated to distinguish them from other words that would otherwise be Homograph s, such as " Recreation " (fun or sport) and " Re-creation " (in forensics), or "predate" (what a Predator does) and "pre-date" (to be of an earlier Calendar Date ).
- If a word begins on one line of text and continues into the following line, a hyphen is usually inserted immediately before the split. Note that the details of doing this properly are complex and language-dependent and that they interact with other and Hyphenation Algorithm .
- Some married couples compose a new Surname (sometimes referred to as a Double-barrelled Name ) for their new family by combining their two surnames with a hyphen. Jane Doe and John Smith might become Jane and John Smith-Doe, or Doe-Smith, for instance. In some countries, however, only the woman hyphenates her birth surname, appending her husband's surname.
- Hyphens are used to connect numbers and words, whether numerals or written out, as in ''28-year-old woman'' (cf. ''twenty-eight-year-old woman'') or ''320-foot wingspan'', in forming adjectival phrases (particularly with weights and measures). The SI recommends against this practice when using abbreviated metric units. The same usually holds for abbreviated time units.
- They are also used in spelled-out Fraction s as adjectives (but not as nouns), such as 'two-thirds majority' and 'one-eighth portion'.
- A suspended hyphen (also referred to as a "hanging hyphen" or "dangling hyphen") may be used when a single base word is being used with separate but back-to-back hyphenated words that are themselves connected by "and", "or", or "to". "Nineteenth-century and twentieth-century" can instead be written "nineteenth- and twentieth-century".
The use of the hyphen has, in general, been steadily declining, both in popular writing and in scholarly Journal s. Its use is almost always avoided by those who write for Newspaper s, for Advertising copy or for labels on packaging, since they are often more concerned with visual cleanliness than Semantic clarity; the words are left with spaces. However, it is still used in most (American) newspapers and magazines; hence people remain accustomed to seeing and understanding its use. In other countries hyphens are dropped in favour of connecting the two-word compounds.
An En Dash ('–') sometimes replaces the hyphen in hyphenated compounds if either of its constituent parts is already hyphenated or contains a space (e.g. ''high-priority–high-pressure tasks'' (tasks which are both high-priority and high-pressure). Hyphens are often used where en dashes are more properly used, in ranges (''pp. 312–14''), relationships (''blood–brain barrier'') and to convey the sense of ''to'' ('' Boston – Washington race'').
Some strong examples of semantic changes caused by the placement of hyphens:
- ''disease-causing poor nutrition'', meaning poor nutrition that causes disease
- ''disease causing poor nutrition'', meaning a disease that causes poor nutrition
- a ''man-eating shark'' is a carnivorous fish
- a ''man eating shark'' is a male human in the active process of consuming shark meat
Additional examples of proper use:
- ''text-only document'' or ''the document is text-only''
- '' Detroit -based organization'' or ''the organization is Detroit-based''
- ''state-of-the-art product'' or ''the product is state-of-the-art'' (but ''The state of the art is very advanced.'' with no hyphen)
- ''board-certified strategy'' or ''the strategy is board-certified''
- ''thought-provoking argument'' or ''the argument is thought-provoking''
- ''time-sensitive error'' or ''the error is time-sensitive''
- ''case-sensitive password'' or ''the password is case-sensitive''
- ''government-issued photo ID'' or ''the photo ID is government-issued'' (but ''…is issued by the government'' with no hyphen.)
- ''light-gathering surface'' or ''the surface is light-gathering''
- ''award-winning novel'' or ''the novel is award-winning'' (but, more likely, ''…won an award'' with no hyphen)
- ''web-based encyclopedia'' or ''the encyclopedia is web-based''
- ''fun-loving person'' or ''the person is fun-loving''
- ''how to wire-transfer funds''
- ''how to tax-plan''
- ''advertising-supported service'' or ''service is advertising-supported'' (but, better, ''…is supported by advertising'' with no hyphen.)
- '' Rudolph Giuliani is an Italian-American'' (but see )
- '' List Of China-related Topics '' ''…list of topics is China-related'' (but ''…related to China'' with no hyphen)
- '' Out-of-body Experience ''
- '' Near-death Experience ''
- in surnames, for example Dominique Strauss-Kahn
Note, though, that many authoritative sources, such as the Chicago Manual Of Style , recommend writing commonplace compounds open (i.e., without hyphen) when they appear after the noun they modify and when they are used adverbially. Thus
- ''She always wears out-of-date clothes.''
but
- ''Her wardrobe is out of date.''
Similarly, for the adverbial use compare
- ''The hand-to-hand combat was frightful.''
and
- ''They fought hand to hand in repulsing the attack.''
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