Week 3 Grammar Post: Hyphens

It hasn’t been until this class, I realize how little I really know about grammar.  This week I decided to due my grammar post on the use of that little line we call a hyphen, and when it is appropriate to use it.

The following times are appropriate times to use a hyphen:

--With prefixes (such as ex-,  quasi-, self - ) or when the root word is capitalized.

            Ex-jock            self-serve            mid-December

--Some prefixes need a hyphen to show a different meaning

            “Recount”  means “tell a tale.”

            “Re-count” means “count again.”

 --With hyphenated names.

            Bailey-Wolff            Somerset-Wilson

 --With compound numbers from 21 to 99 and with written fractions.

            Thirty-two            five-eights            seven and three-quarters

 --With numbers to show age.

            Three-year-old child            11-to 14-year old swimmers

 --With compound adjectives before a noun.  (Compound adjectives consist of two or more words that work together to describe a noun.  Together, they express a single thought.)  Do not use hyphens when compound modifiers follow the noun.

            Six-foot-two athlete, but The athlete was six foot two.

            G-flat-minor piece, but Play something in G flat minor

            African-American woman, but She was an African American.

 --To show where words divide by syllables at the end of a line.  (Today, with word processors and typesetting, hyphens are used much less frequently to show word division.  Check a dictionary for division by syllables.)

 

Fine, Edith, and Judith Josephson. Nitty-Gritty Grammar. Berkeley CA: Ten Speed Press, 1998. Print.