To hyphenate or not to hyphenate? This is the question so many nervous writers deliberate. How can such a little dash cause such a dither and so much angst when all it wants to do is bring a little clarity to your communique? And where would we be without the humble hyphen? We’d never tell difference between a man-eating snake and a man eating snake with possible fatal consequences!
You can beat the hyphenation blues by remembering this:
Hyphens connect words, prefixes, and suffixes and bring clarity to the meaning of a word.
And following these simple rules….
Hyphenate when:
- Using a two-word adjective: her decision-making skills, work-related stress
- Creating a compound noun: added-value, get-together, an add-on
- In prefixes: where a hyphen avoids awkward wording such as anti-inflammatory, re-enter, re-adjust, or a word has different meanings like re-formation and reformation, re-sign and resign
- Explaining a word spelling: H-Y-P-H-E-N
When to make a ‘dash’ for it
The hyphen has two similar-looking cousins - the en dash and the em dash. This is what they do…
Em dash (—)
- Use instead of brackets to indicate a separate thought or additional information: She worked out in the gym — at least that’s what she told me — every day
- Use to indicate values or ranges: 10-15 staff, 2004-2007, May-June
- To contrast values or illustrate the relationship between two things
Happy hyphenating!
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